ENVIRONMENT FOOD AND RURAL AFFAIRS

Correspondence

Nigel Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what the average response time was for responding to departmental correspondence; what percentage of letters took longer than one month for a response; and what percentage took longer than three months for a response in each of the last five years.

Elliot Morley: Our Minister's correspondence database does not record details of response times and percentages of response times for the last five years. We can only provide this information for letters answered for the period since the formation of DEFRA on 8 June 2001 to 31 March 2002.
	The DEFRA service target is 15 working days.
	Letters answered from 8 June 2001 to 31 March 2002
	Mean response time was 48.14 working days
	Percentage of letters that took longer than one month for a response: 64.58
	Percentage of letters that took longer than three months for a response: 24.18.
	The Department suffered severe disruption last year due to allocating top priority to defeating the foot and mouth epidemic. Furthermore the sheer volume of correspondence received following the creation of DEFRA had a major impact on the Department's performance, resulting in a large backlog of letters. We have devoted more resources to clearing the backlog and we are making progress in improving response times.

Rio Earth Summit (Implementation)

Malcolm Bruce: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs which members of (a) her Department and (b) the Government are planning to attend the Rio+10 Summit in Johannesburg in 2002; and on what dates these individuals are expected to be in attendance.

Michael Meacher: The final decision on the make-up of the delegation to the summit will rest with the Prime Minister nearer the time. However, both the Prime Minister and my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State will attend the summit. We are keen to ensure that all three pillars of sustainable development are represented in the ministerial element of the delegation.

Rio Earth Summit (Implementation)

Malcolm Bruce: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what steps have been taken by the Government since the Rio Earth Summit in 1992 to (a) set goals on environmental protection and (b) improve eco-efficiency and resource productivity relating to mountain issues; and what these (i) goals and (ii) improvements have been.

Michael Meacher: The majority of the montane area in the UK occurs in Scotland. Although montane habitats are very scarce in England there are 33 Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSIs) with an estimated 26,000 ha of land above 600 m. Several of these are also Natura 2000 sites designated in accordance with the EC wild birds and habitats directives.
	In addition to protection measures afforded by notification as special sites (SSSIs, Special Areas of Conservation and Special Protection Areas), actions in hand include the establishment of six upland habitat action plans under the UK biodiversity action plan.
	In England the hill farm allowance (HFA) was introduced in 2001 to provide support to beef and sheep producers in the less favoured areas in recognition of the difficulties they face and the vital role they play in maintaining the landscape and rural communities of the hills. Similar schemes operate in the devolved Administrations. HFA is linked to sustainable farming practices, forms part of the wider rural development programme and is WTO compatible.

Sellafield

Alistair Carmichael: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how much technetium has been discharged from Sellafield in each year since 1992.

Margaret Beckett: Annual discharges of technetium- 99 to sea from BNFL Sellafield since 1992 were as follows:
	
		
			  Year Discharge in terabecquerels (TBq) 
		
		
			 1992 3.2 
			 1993 6.1 
			 1994 75 
			 1995 190 
			 1996 150 
			 1997 84 
			 1998 53 
			 1999 69 
			 2000 44 
			 2001 79

Meat Imports

David Ruffley: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what percentage of meat imports were subject to random checks in the last 12 months.

Elliot Morley: All commercial consignments of meat from third countries are required to be presented to border inspection posts where they undergo 100 per cent. documentary and identity checks. Physical checks are undertaken on a minimum of 50 per cent. of consignments of poultry and game meat, with a minimum level of 20 per cent. on other meats.
	In addition HM Customs and Excise have also participated with local and port health authorities in targeted exercises on air passengers and deal with meat found in baggage in contravention of our imports rules as part of their normal controls. In cargo, meat found in Customs examinations which was not declared in freight would be drawn to the attention of the local and port health authorities.

Chernobyl

Llew Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what research projects are continuing on the environmental impact of Chernobyl on the United Kingdom.

Michael Meacher: There are no current research projects on the environmental impact of Chernobyl on the United Kingdom. A great deal of work has been done in the past to understand and ameliorate the effects of radiocaesium on the environment and the food chain. The Food Standards Agency and the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs continue to monitor the effects of the radioactive fallout from Chernobyl in sheep and fresh water fish. Details of the latest monitoring results can be obtained from the Food Standards Agency's annual report "Radioactivity in Food and the Environment".

Egg Labelling Directive

Gareth Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what representations she has received from small producers on the implementation of the European Directive on the Compulsory Labelling of Eggs.

Elliot Morley: Comments were received from the main representative bodies and two producers during the negotiations on the proposal to amend Council Regulation (EEC) No 1274/91.

Rural Awareness

Andrew Turner: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs 
	(1)  when her Department will have rural proofing embedded in policy-making procedures as set out in the Countryside Agency's report, Rural Proofing in 2001–02;
	(2)  when her Department will implement proofing and checklist measures as part of overall rural proofing measures set out in the Countryside Agency's report, Rural Proofing in 2001–02.

Alun Michael: The Government have made a firm commitment to rural proof all relevant policies and for performance to be monitored independently by the Countryside Agency. This innovative approach—described as "courageous" by the agency's chairman Ewen Cameron, when his first report was published on 11 April this year—applies across Government and to agencies and other Government bodies.
	The first report concludes that a great deal has been achieved since this approach was proposed in the Rural White Paper in November 2000, but that much more needs to be done to make rural proofing fully effective. The report sets out details of the checklist devised by the Countryside Agency as an appendix.
	Following the decision to implement the strong rural agenda set out in the White Paper, a number of other changes have taken place. In June 2001, the new Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs came into being. For the first time, there is a Minister of State for Rural Affairs and a director general within DEFRA backed by a team with a clear focus on rural social and economic issues and on implementation of the Rural White Paper. A Cabinet sub-committee, chaired by the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, has a specific focus on rural affairs. The Minister of State for Rural Affairs has met Ministerial colleagues across Government to discuss the challenges of delivering services in rural areas.
	The implementation of rural proofing is a process across Government. Responsibility lies with each individual Department but DEFRA and the Countryside Agency are working together to develop rural-proofing strategies and to rural proof individual policies.

Rural Awareness

Andrew Turner: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs when her Department will introduce measures to raise rural awareness through staff (a) training, (b) development and (c) secondments as part of overall rural proofing measures as set out in the Countryside Agency's report, Rural Proofing in 2001–02.

Alun Michael: The Government have made a firm commitment to rural proof all relevant policies and for performance to be monitored independently by the Countryside Agency. This innovative approach—described as "courageous" by the agency's chairman, Ewen Cameron when his first report was published on 11 April this year—applies across Government and to agencies and other Government bodies.
	The first report concludes that a great deal has been achieved since this approach was proposed in the Rural White Paper in November 2000, but that much more needs to be done to make rural proofing fully effective. The report sets out details of the checklist devised by the Countryside Agency as an appendix.
	Following the decision to implement the strong rural agenda set out in the White Paper, a number of other changes have taken place. In June 2001, the new Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs came into being. For the first time, there is a Minister of State for Rural Affairs and a director general within DEFRA backed by a team with a clear focus on rural social and economic issues and on implementation of the Rural White Paper. A Cabinet sub-committee, chaired by the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, has a specific focus on rural affairs. The Minister of State for Rural Affairs has met ministerial colleagues across Government to discuss the challenges of delivering services in rural areas.
	Each Government Department has put in place arrangements to respond to the requirements of rural proofing and the Treasury, for instance, has a secondee from the Countryside Agency working with their officials on rural proofing work. Rural proofing is also one of the forms of policy assessment that the Centre for Management and Policy Studies in the Cabinet Office introduces as appropriate during its training for civil servants on policy making.

Rural Awareness

Andrew Turner: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs when her Department will establish rural targets and monitoring as part of overall rural proofing measures as set out in the Countryside Agency's report "Rural Proofing in 2001–02".

Alun Michael: The Government have made a firm commitment to rural proof all relevant policies and for performance to be monitored independently by the Countryside Agency. This innovative approach—described as "courageous" by the agency's chairman, Ewen Cameron, when his first report was published on 11 April this year—applies across Government and to agencies and other Government bodies.
	The first report concludes that a great deal has been achieved since this approach was proposed in the Rural White Paper in November 2000, but that much more needs to be done to make rural proofing fully effective. The report sets out details of the checklist devised by the Countryside Agency as an appendix.
	Following the decision to implement the strong rural agenda set out in the White Paper, a number of other changes have taken place. In June 2001, the new Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs came into being. For the first time there is a Minister of State for Rural Affairs and a Director General within DEFRA backed by a team with a clear focus on rural social and economic issues and on implementation of the Rural White Paper. A Cabinet Sub-Committee, chaired by the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, has a specific focus on rural affairs. The Minister of Stare for Rural Affairs has met Ministerial colleagues across Government to discuss the challenges of delivering services in rural areas.
	The Rural Services Standard, as set out in the Rural White Paper (Our Countryside: the future (Cm4909)) sets targets for the individual services delivered by Government. It is monitored for DEFRA by the Countryside Agency, and its content is currently being reviewed. Some individual Departments also have their own rural targets within their public service or service delivery agreements. Proposed public service agreement targets for 2003–04 and beyond are under discussion as part of the current Spending Review.
	As the agency's annual report recommends, the Cabinet Sub-Committee on Rural Renewal will review progress in the autumn, and take a close and continuing interest in the subject generally. The Countryside Agency will report again next year on progress with rural proofing, so there is a regular external monitoring and evaluation process.

Waste Composting

Jonathan Sayeed: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what recent research her Department has (a) commissioned and (b) evaluated into the various potential uses of compost produced from household waste.

Michael Meacher: The Government have set up and are funding the Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP) to promote sustainable waste management by working to create stable and efficient markets for recycled materials and products and removing barriers to waste minimisation, re-use and recycling. Part of this work is to tackle issues relating to composting waste. Currently WRAP is working with the Composting Association to develop the existing industry standard for compost, to achieve British Standards Institute (BSI) accreditation. The delivery of these industry standards for compost will help to create markets for organic waste derived products.

Pets

Helen Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what assessment she has made of the cost to local authorities of dealing with stray dogs in the last 12 months.

Michael Meacher: This information is not collected centrally. The most recent information on the cost to local authorities of dealing with stray dogs dates from a 1997 MORI poll. The assessment of cost to local authorities then was £11.3 million per year.

Foot and Mouth

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many people have been taken on by the State Veterinary Service since the end of the foot and mouth outbreak; and how this has affected the establishment figure.

Elliot Morley: holding answer 7 May 2002
	FMD related work still continues, however, for the purpose of my response, figures have been calculated from 22 January 2002. This is when FMD status (without vaccination), for the purpose of international trade was restored by the OIE.
	At the start of the outbreak a total figure of 1,064.4 veterinary, technical and support staff were employed by the field service element of the State Veterinary Service (SVS), compared with 1,247.66 at the end of January 2002. This indicates an increase of 183.26.
	A high proportion of this increase relates to the creation of an enhanced personnel and IT unit, the creation of the National Scrapie Administration Centre at Worcester along with recruitment of fixed term veterinary appointees and other staff at most levels.

WEEE Directive

Jonathan Sayeed: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what steps her Department is taking to encourage the development of a market for recovered waste electrical and electronic equipment.

Brian Wilson: I have been asked to reply.
	Markets already exist for a range of waste electrical equipment such as mobile telephones and large household appliances where there is a high metal or precious metal content. The Government are encouraging the development of new recyclate markets through the not-for-profit company the Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP). WRAP is jointly funded by the DEFRA, DTI and the devolved Administrations. The budget for the three years commencing 1 April 2001 is £40 million.

WEEE Directive

Jonathan Sayeed: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will list the statistics for waste recovery in the United Kingdom for the categories of WEEE as outlined in Annexe I of the common position on WEEE (2000/0158(COD), Doc 11304/1/01 + ADD1).

Brian Wilson: I have been asked to reply.
	In the UK, waste electrical equipment is not currently separated into the categories defined in the draft WEEE Directive. These statistics are not therefore available. To establish current recovery rates for a selection of individual products DTI has commissioned work from PriceWaterhouseCoopers. This can be viewed on the departmental website.

WEEE Directive

Jonathan Sayeed: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what consultations she has had with producer and sectoral groups about the practical implications and likely cost of compliance with the EU WEEE directive; and if she will make a statement.

Brian Wilson: I have been asked to reply.
	DTI carried out a formal consultation on the Commission's proposal in autumn 2000. There were 70 responses representing over 340,000 organisations. A summary of the results was published on the website. There has been a regular on-going dialogue with stakeholders from all sectors. A new partial regulatory impact assessment that considers costs in detail was placed on to the DTI website in April 2002. Over 700 organisations, including major trade associations and local authorities were alerted to this by letter this month. A small business consultation group and informal retailer group have also been established.
	A series of over 20 information seminars are planned across the UK over the next four to five months.

WEEE Directive

Jonathan Sayeed: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if her Department intends to make use of the optional five-year exemption for SMEs from the provisions of the EU WEEE directive relating to producer responsibility.

Brian Wilson: I have been asked to reply.
	The Common Position text allows member states the option of exempting SME manufacturers from the financing requirements of Articles 7 and 8 for a period of up to 30 months after the commencement of this obligation for other producers. The Government support this flexibility and will wish to take up this opportunity to exempt SME manufacturers if this is permitted under the directive finally adopted and if practicable within the implementing legislation developed.

WEEE Directive

Jonathan Sayeed: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will make a statement on the derogations granted to Greece and Ireland in Article 15.4(a) of the Common Position on WEEE (2000/0158(COD), Doc 11304/1/01+ ADD1).

Brian Wilson: I have been asked to reply.
	The Common Position text would allow Greece or Ireland up to a further 24 months in which to reach the recovery and recycling targets set out in Article 6 and the collection target specified in Article 4. They are required to notify the Commission of their intention to use these derogations by the time required for completion of the transposition process.

WEEE Directive

Jonathan Sayeed: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what strategies her Department intends to adopt to communicate to the public the need to sort and recover WEEE.

Brian Wilson: I have been asked to reply.
	These will be considered alongside the development of implementing legislation and are a requirement of the draft directive.

Affordable Housing

Colin Breed: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what plans she has to increase the uptake of affordable housing in rural areas by key sector workers; and if she will make a statement.

Sally Keeble: Our overall strategy is: to ensure that the housing needs of people in rural area, including key workers, are properly identified; to increase investment in new social housing; to maximise delivery of affordable housing through the planning system; and to make the best use of existing property. We expect to deliver around 9,000 affordable homes annually in rural areas by 2003–04 through these measures as announced in the Rural White Paper. This should provide greater opportunities for key workers in rural areas where local authorities have identified affordable key worker housing as a priority need.
	Our Starter Home Initiative (SHI) is specifically helping key workers in England to buy a home in urban and rural areas where the high cost of housing is undermining recruitment and retention. £230 million SHI funding was allocated to local scheme providers in September 2001, including some £8.7 million to help around 360 key workers to buy homes in rural settlements with a population of 3,000 or less. We expect to announce the allocation of a further £20 million SHI funding to successful bidders later this month.

Energy Conservation

Sue Doughty: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs 
	(1)  what assessment she has made of the impact on carbon dioxide emissions of the exemption from the climate change levy of electricity from combined heat and power plants sold through licensed electricity suppliers;
	(2)  what assessment she has made of the impact on the total level of generation from combined heat and power sold through licensed electricity suppliers of its exemption from the climate change levy.

Paul Boateng: I have been asked to reply.
	Granting Good Quality Combined Heat and Power (GQCHP) a full exemption from the Climate Change Levy (CCL) will encourage the use of this energy-efficient technology, and support the achievement of the Government's target of at least 10 gigawatts (GWe) of GQCHP by 2010. GQCHP achieves a 25 to 35 per cent. reduction in primary energy use relative to traditional forms of electricity generation, and therefore produces less carbon emissions per GWe. The amount of carbon saved depends on which technologies and fuels are displaced by GQCHP.
	The DTI and DEFRA are assessing the economic and environmental potential of GQCHP under various energy price and policy scenarios, including the full exemption from CCL. This work will be published shortly, alongside the Government's CHP Strategy.

TRADE AND INDUSTRY

Energy Efficiency

Andrew Stunell: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what measures her Department has taken since 1997 to encourage energy efficiency in (a) the domestic sector, (b) the commercial sector, (c) the industrial sector and (d) the public sector; and how much Government financial support has been made available.

Brian Wilson: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to him by my right hon. Friend the Minister for the Environment on 8 May 2002, Official Report, column 155W.

Business Links

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what estimate she has made of the productivity and profitability of (a) businesses assisted by business links (i) in the Milton Keynes, Oxford and Buckinghamshire area and (ii) nationally and (b) businesses not assisted by business links in the latest year for which figures are available.

Nigel Griffiths: Business link operators are required to submit data on those clients receiving the most intensive level of support in order to track changes in their growth and performance.
	(a) (i) 7,000 individual business have been assisted by business link Milton Keynes, Oxford and Buckinghamshire, helping on average almost 700 people per quarter interested in or thinking about starting a business in 2001–02.
	(a) (ii) Among small businesses with between 10 and 49 employees assisted by business link nationally the average productivity increase was 19 per cent.
	(b) Among small businesses not assisted by BL, but which were otherwise similar, the average productivity increase was 15 per cent.

Electricity Industry

Peter Duncan: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what representations have been (a) sought and (b) received from the Scottish Executive on new UK-wide electricity trading arrangements.

Brian Wilson: I have been in close contact with colleagues in the Scottish Executive and they fully support moves to create a British electricity trading and transmission market. The project is being taken forward with the full involvement of the Scottish Executive who are represented at my regular meetings with the industry in this issue. Scottish Executive officials also attend the monthly steering group.

Energy Industry

Sue Doughty: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what assessment she has made of the impact on the total level of generation of electricity from coal mine methane sold via licensed electricity suppliers of its exemption from the climate change levy.

Brian Wilson: The Government do not have their own estimate for the extra sites which would be developed as a result of the CCL exemption, but the Association of Coal Mine Methane Operators has estimated that around 30 new sites could be made viable as a result. It is for the operators to respond to the incentive that has been provided, but if all the association projects went ahead this would add something in the region of 175 MW of electricity generating capacity with the electricity produced per annum totalling about 1.4 terawatt hours.

Energy Industry

Sue Doughty: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what assessment she has made of the impact on carbon dioxide emissions of the exemption from the climate change levy of electricity from electricity from coal mine methane sold via licensed electricity suppliers.

Brian Wilson: Using methane from abandoned mines will reduce greenhouse gas emissions to the atmosphere and therefore has a significant environmental benefit. The scale of the environmental benefit cannot be precisely quantified at present, because the effect of pumping the gas leads to some acceleration in the extraction rate beyond the level of natural leakage from abandoned mines. Work is in hand to inform these estimates.

Small Businesses

Jimmy Wray: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what assistance the Government have provided since 1997 to small businesses starting up.

Nigel Griffiths: Creating new businesses is important to achieving a vibrant economy. The Government are committed to creating an environment that encourages more people to think about setting up a business, and to provide them with easy access to the information and support available that will help them to be successful and grow. Since 1997 the Government have introduced through the Small Business Service (SBS) a range of measures to assist small businesses to start up including:
	At the heart of the SBS is the Information and Advisory Service, which provides start-ups and other small businesses with access to information and advice on a wide range of business topics. This is focused at a local level through the SBS's business link operators (BLOs), which provide tailored high quality business support to meet the needs of all small businesses in their areas. Each BLO is required to provide a local service for pre start-ups and start-ups brokering specific help when appropriate from local partners;
	People thinking of starting in business or who are already trading have easy access to information about all aspects of starting and running a business from the business link website (www.businesslink.org) and National Contact Centre (0845 600 9006).
	The Business Volunteer Mentoring (BVMA initiative) provides mentoring advice to pre and early start-up businesses from a core of volunteers (retired or otherwise) drawn from all sections of the business community. With support from the SBS, the National Federation of Enterprise Agencies, is overseeing the co-ordination of the initiative for delivery at local level through local enterprise agencies and other business link local partners. There are currently approximately 900 volunteers operating within the BVMA initiative.
	High Growth Start-up (HGSUs)—a high-quality advice service to pre-start and start-up businesses in England who are identified as having high growth potential. The service is part of the start-ups services delivered locally via business link operators in England. Support is being provided, across a variety of business sectors, to people who are traditionally considered to face barriers in starting and growing a business including women, ethnic minorities and young entrepreneurs. Around 7,000 pre and early start businesses have been assisted since October 1999.
	The £75 million SBS Business Incubation Fund opened for business on 1 October 2001; the fund is providing loans to developers of business incubators to help those starting up in business and early stage SMEs to survive and grow.
	96 projects supported by £30 million from the Development Fund element of the Phoenix Fund, bringing enterprise projects to disadvantaged areas and groups.
	However the Government are committed to continue finding ways of increasing the numbers of new businesses, and of helping them to be successful and grow. In response to the joint Treasury/DTI paper "Productivity in the UK", which was published on 16 June 2001, the SBS is currently consulting on developing a comprehensive strategy for supporting business start-ups. A consultation document was published on 6 May 2002, setting out some concrete proposals and recommendations for areas where further work is considered necessary. The consultation period will run until 31 July 2002.

Coal Health Claims

Rachel Squire: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how much has been paid by her Department in coal health claims for (a) occupational respiratory disease and (b) vibration white finger in fees and other charges to (i) her Department's legal advisers and counsel, (ii) her Department's claim handlers, (iii) the medical service providers (A) Healthcall Ltd. and (B) SEMA, (iv) external and seconded consultants, (v) other contractors and (vi) claimants' solicitors, in the period up to 31 December 1997 and in each subsequent year.

Brian Wilson: The Department is unable to provide figures relating to contractors' fees, as the details of these payments remain commercially confidential.
	Figures for the period prior to 1 April 1999 are not available in time allowed. However, from 1 April 1999 to 31 December 2001 the Department has paid out the following on administrative costs (medical, records collection, defendant legal and claims handling costs) broken down by financial year and scheme:
	
		£ million 
		
			 Financial Year Respiratory disease Vibration white finger 
		
		
			 1999–2000 4.6 1.1 
			 2000–01 19 8.4 
			 April to December 2001 43.8 5.6 
			 Total from April 1999 to December 2001 67.4 15.1 
		
	
	The cost of administrative expenses for the Department on this work cannot be separately identified.

Export Credits Guarantee Department

Simon Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry when she will make her decision regarding ECGD support for United Kingdom commercial interests in the proposed Bo NoK power plant in Thailand; and which companies have expressed an interest to her Department.

Patricia Hewitt: ECGD has not received a formal application in respect of Bo Nok power project. However, an initial inquiry was received over a year ago. The identity of the UK company involved is commercially confidential and, in line with ECGD's normal policy relating to discussions prior to issue of guarantees, cannot be disclosed.

Export Credits Guarantee Department

Simon Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry which UK companies the ECGD is supporting in connection with (a) the Sual coal plant in the Philippines and (b) its associated transmission networks.

Patricia Hewitt: ECGD supported Alstom Power Plants Ltd. (then GEC ALSTHOM Power Plants Ltd.) and Alstom Power Plants Services Ltd. (then GEC ALSTHOM Turbine Generators Ltd.) in relation to the Sual coal plant. ECGD did not provide any support for the associated transmission networks.

DEFENCE

Defence Estates Agency

Nick Palmer: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what key targets have been set for the Defence Estates Agency for financial year 2002–03.

Lewis Moonie: As detailed in the Defence Estates Corporate Plan 2002–07, the following key targets have been set for the agency.
	Key Target 1:
	Disposal Receipts—to accrue gross disposal receipts of at least £185 million.
	Key Target 2:
	Prime Contracting—to award the initial Regional Prime Contract, for Scotland.
	Key Target 3:
	Project SLAM—to award the contract by 30 September 2002.
	Key Target 4:
	Project Aquatrine—to award the contract for Package A.
	Key Target 5:
	Estate Strategy Core Sites process—to have a proposed set of categorised core sites ready for publication to TLBs by 31 December 2002.
	Copies of the new Defence Estates Corporate Plan will be placed in the Library of the House.

Retirement Ages

Jeffrey M Donaldson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence when his Department introduced a normal retirement age of 60 years for senior and professional technology officers; whether his Department has completed its review of its age retirement policy; and if he will make a statement.

Lewis Moonie: The normal retirement age for senior professional and technology officers, and a number of other grades, was changed from 65 to 60 in 1992 as one of the measures needed to manage the "Options for Change" reduction in the size of the Ministry of Defence's civilian work force which became possible following the end of the cold war.
	The MOD has completed its further review of age retirement policy. The conclusions are being considered and we shall make an announcement about them as soon as we can.

West Freugh

Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many military aircraft movements have taken place at the West Freugh new DEFRA facility in Wigtownshire in each of the last 10 years; and if he will make a statement.

Lewis Moonie: I have taken the question to refer to the Defence Evaluation Research Agency at West Freugh. DERA was, as previously announced, subsumed in QinetiQ and the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory in July 2001. The number of military aircraft movements that took place at West Freugh in each of the last 10 years, is listed. These figures do not include overflights or range runs.
	
		
			  Number 
		
		
			 1992 (1)— 
			 1993 3,868 
			 1994 1,666 
			 1995 5,253 
			 1996 4,501 
			 1997 5,946 
			 1998 4,636 
			 1999 7,236 
			 2000 5,976 
			 2001 3,861 
		
	
	(1) Not available
	Our records are not in a form that readily enables provision of the figures as far back as 1992. I will write to the hon. Member following further analysis of the available data to see what information can be provided and a copy of my letter will be placed in the Library of the House.

INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT

Debt

Caroline Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development if she will make a statement on the lending policies of (a) the World Bank, (b) the IDA, (c) the Asian Development Bank and (d) the EBRD.

Clare Short: The multilateral development banks make a unique contribution to international development and poverty reduction. Each of these institutions have different, complementary lending policies. Further details of these are publicly available through the following websites: www.worldbank.org (for World Bank and IDA); ww.adb.org; and www.ebrd.com.
	My Department has published institutional strategy papers for the multilateral development banks which set out how the UK Government can work in partnership with each of these institutions to maximise the effectiveness of our combined development efforts (available www.dfid.gov.uk or through our public inquiry point, tel. 01355 843132). These papers outline our views on the effectiveness of these institutions and how we intend to ensure that their lending contributes to poverty elimination.

Tanzania

Caroline Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development when her Department last discussed the political situation in Tanzania with (a) the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, (b) the Department for Trade and Industry and (c) the Ministry of Defence; and what was discussed.

Clare Short: DFID maintains a regular dialogue with other Government Departments on all aspects of our work.

Tanzania

Caroline Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what discussions she has had with the Government of Tanzania regarding the purposes of the air defence system recently purchased by the Tanzanian Government.

Clare Short: We have had various discussions with the Government of Tanzania regarding the proposed air traffic control system. The International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) is currently undertaking a review of Tanzania's civil aviation requirements and will report to the World Bank and Government of Tanzania.

Tanzania

Caroline Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what steps her Department is taking to promote good governance in Tanzania.

Clare Short: Governance is a core element of the DFID programme in Tanzania, which supports the Government of Tanzania's Poverty Reduction Strategy. DFID supports several programmes aimed at improving governance. Some of these are with the Government of Tanzania and include financial management reform and financial accountability, decentralisation through local government reform, public service reform and civic education. We are also working with civil society at local and national levels, disseminating information and supporting networks for advocacy and lobbying.

Tanzania

Caroline Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what assessment she has made of the impact of her decision to withhold aid from Tanzania; and when she expects aid to resume.

Clare Short: In October 2001 DFID provided £35 million budget support to Tanzania. We have delayed disbursement of the next tranche of £10 million budget support pending the Government of Tanzania's response to the review of the country's civil aviation requirements. The International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) has been in Tanzania to undertake this review and will report to the World Bank and Government of Tanzania.

Tanzania

Caroline Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what recent discussions she has had with the Government of Tanzania regarding the peace process in the DRC.

Clare Short: I have not had discussions recently with the Tanzanian Government regarding the peace process in the DRC, but my Department and the FCO maintain a regular dialogue with the Tanzanian Government on all regional issues including the Great Lakes. We have encouraged them in their attempts to bring the Burundian rebels to agree a ceasefire and join the political process under the Arusha Peace Accords, and have offered to help with the costs of these meetings. We have encouraged them to continue to link their efforts in this regard to those of the Burundian peace facilitation team under Vice- President Zuma of South Africa and President Bongo of Gabon, to whose team we are giving technical support. We are also in close touch with the Governments of Tanzania and Burundi, and with UNHCR, on resolving the question of the large number of Burundian refugees still in refugee camps in Tanzania.

Tanzania

Lynne Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, pursuant to her answer of 24 January 2002, Official Report, column 1002, on Tanzania, what further information she has collated on the impact of the purchase of an air traffic control system on the sustainability of Tanzania's debt servicing obligations and the achievement of anti-poverty targets.

Clare Short: The Government of Tanzania agreed with the World Bank to review its civil aviation requirements in consultation with the International Civil Aviation Organisation. The ICAO has been in Tanzania to undertake this review and will report to the World Bank and Government of Tanzania. It is not possible to determine the impact of the purchase of an air traffic control system until the ICAO report is issued and the Government of Tanzania and the World Bank have considered it.

Zimbabwe

Caroline Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what recent discussions she has had with the Government of Tanzania regarding good government in Zimbabwe.

Clare Short: Neither my Department nor I have had discussions with the Government of Tanzania regarding good government in Zimbabwe.

Zimbabwe

Caroline Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what assessment she has made of business links between Tanzania and Zimbabwe and their impact on (a) political stability and (b) international development.

Clare Short: I have made no recent assessment of the business links between Tanzania and Zimbabwe but the Zimbabwe crisis is impacting on the region.

United Nations Population Fund

Desmond Swayne: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how much was given by the EU to the UN population fund in each of the last 10 years.

Clare Short: This information is not readily available and to obtain it would involve disproportionate cost.

United Nations Population Fund

Desmond Swayne: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development if she will make a statement on the policy of the UN population fund with respect to the Chinese one child policy.

Clare Short: Like the Government, the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) does not support China's one child policy. The objective of UNFPA's programme in China is to demonstrate that a voluntary, non-coercive approach to family planning can be effective in promoting sustainable population growth. UNFPA report that birth quotas and targets have been abolished, and abortion rates have fallen in the areas of China where UNFPA is working.

United Nations Population Fund

Desmond Swayne: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what oversight and scrutiny her officials have over the funding of the UN population fund; and if she will make a statement.

Clare Short: My Department's level of funding for the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) is based on an assessment of its performance in contributing to the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals—particularly those relating to HIV/AIDS, maternal and child health—and other international development targets. Our assessment of UNFPA's performance is based on regular feedback from DFID's offices in developing countries, and on studies by external evaluation experts. In addition, the UK (DFID) is a member of UNFPA's executive board which carefully scrutinises the fund's activities and performance.

United Nations Population Fund

Desmond Swayne: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development if she will make a statement on the level of funding made available to the United Nations population fund in (a) 1980, (b) 1984, (c) 1988, (d) 1992 and (e) 2000.

Clare Short: The UK's contributions to the United Nations population fund (UNFPA) in the years referred to were:
	(a) £2 million
	(b) £3 million
	(c) £2.625 million
	(d) £9 million
	(e) £15.05 million.

United Nations Population Fund

Desmond Swayne: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what funds are being made available by (a) the United Nations Fund for Population Activities and (b) the International Parenthood Federation to fund population control in Peru.

Clare Short: Neither the United Nations population fund (UNFPA) or the International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF) support population control programmes in Peru or elsewhere.
	In 2002, UNFPA's US$1.4 million programme in Peru is supporting action to reduce maternal mortality and to improve access to reproductive health information and care for young people. IPPF's US$246,716 programme in 2002 is supporting the promotion of a range of quality and affordable sexual and reproductive health services and information for poor people, including improving access to modern methods of contraception and support to combat gender-based violence.

Great Lakes Region

Caroline Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development when she last discussed political security in the Great Lakes region of Africa with the UN.

Clare Short: I am in frequent contact with the UN about the security problems of the Great Lakes region and the means of ending the conflict there. I spoke to the Secretary General again this last weekend when we usefully were able to talk through a broad range of current issues on the Great Lakes.

Democratic Republic of Congo

Caroline Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development if she will make a statement on the peace process in the Democratic Republic of the Congo with respect to (a) Tanzania and (b) Zimbabwe.

Clare Short: The peace process in the DRC falls within the framework of the 1999 Lusaka Peace Agreement to which Tanzania was not a signatory. However Tanzania is clearly interested in the stability of the Great Lakes region as a whole, particularly in relation to Burundi because of the large number of Burundian refugees currently in camps in Tanzania. The Tanzanian Government are active in seeking to persuade the Burundian rebel groups to agree a ceasefire with the Burundian Government. We continue to press for a full and inclusive settlement to the DRC conflict within the framework of the Lusaka Agreement, which inter alia provides for the withdrawal of all foreign forces in the DRC including those of Zimbabwe.

Pacific Regional Programme

David Marshall: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what the total value was of aid and assistance given to her Department's regional programme in the Pacific in each of the last five years.

Clare Short: Funding to the Pacific provided through DFID's bilateral programme and through multilateral agencies, especially the EU, World Bank, Asian Development Bank and the UN is as follows:
	
		DFID bilateral programme
		
			 Financial year £ million 
		
		
			 1996–97 8.552 
			 1997–98 5.765 
			 1998–99 4.941 
			 1999–2000 4.193 
			 2000–01 3.831 
		
	
	
		£ million 
		
			 Calendar year EC World bank UN Others 
		
		
			 1996 3.8 0.1 0.7 1.1 
			 1997 6.0 0.1 0.7 1.4 
			 1998 6.1 0.1 0.6 3.2 
			 1999 0.9 0 0.7 0 
			 2000 7.0 0.1 1.0 2.0 
		
	
	Note:
	Multilateral agencies (these are UK multilateral shares—'Others' includes the Asian Development Bank for which separate figures are not available)

Malawi

Caroline Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how much food aid (a) her Department and (b) the EU has provided to Malawi in the last six months.

Clare Short: Since January, my Department has spent £4.6 million on direct food relief in Malawi. In addition, DFID approved £1.2 million on 26 April to help raise domestic food production over the winter season. The latter is expected to yield 75,000 metric tonnes of maize by September.
	The EC has provided £0.3 million in direct food relief.

Malawi

Martin Smyth: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what further help she will give to Malawi to alleviate its famine.

Clare Short: Since January, we have spent £4.6 million on direct food relief in Malawi. At the end of April we released a further £1.2 million to help raise domestic food production over the winter season (expected to yield 75,000 metric tonnes of maize by September). A much larger programme to boost domestic food production, and timed to coincide with November rains, is in preparation.
	We have also worked hard with other donors to help the Government of Malawi to develop a long-term national food security strategy. A working group made up of donors, government, civil society and the private sector is urgently considering how to improve food production, storage and marketing, all with the aims of preventing a recurrence of the current crisis.

Women's Organisations

Sandra Gidley: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development if she will list the women's organisations which have been consulted over the proposed legislation by her Department during the (a) 2000–01 and (b) 2001–02 Sessions; and if their responses have been published.

Clare Short: The Department for International Development has undertaken no public consultation over proposed legislation.

Equal Treatment

Sandra Gidley: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development if she has established a baseline for policy appraisal against which to measure progress on equal treatment; and what progress has been made.

Clare Short: DFID is committed to a policy of equal treatment. In relation to DFID's role as an employer, we have adopted a Diversity Action Plan, put in place staff consultative groups to assist in promoting diversity in the Department, undertaken equality-proofing of our pay and appraisal systems, implemented positive action measures in the form of a bursary scheme for staff from ethnic minority backgrounds, and have published targets for improving representativeness of our staffing in respect of race, gender and disability. We are implementing diversity training as part of our management development programmes, have adopted a requirement for all senior staff to have a diversity component in their personal objectives, and have continued to insist on the application of an equal opportunities policy in respect of a wide range of other criteria (including age and sexual orientation) in all aspects of our employment policies.
	These initiatives, which represent only the key measures in a wide range of on-going actions on equal treatment, will be monitored and reported on in our 2002 departmental report and other systems including the Department's Service Delivery Agreement. It is not easily possible to summarise progress to date in terms of the impact of these initiatives. But the policy is one of continuous improvement and in October (in advance of the operative date of the EU equal treatment directive) the Department expects to implement a new personnel database system which will provide important baseline data against which overall progress can be measured in more quantitative terms thereafter.
	In terms of our work to eliminate poverty, we work through our programmes and at the international level to address discrimination in legislation, policies and society so that excluded people have more control over their lives. Our work in this regard is set out in our strategy papers: "Realising Human Rights for poor people" and "Poverty elimination and the empowerment of women". These are available at www.dfid.gov.uk or through our public inquiry point, tel. 01355 843132. The empowerment of women is an essential precondition for the elimination of world poverty. This goal is recognised in the internationally agreed set of development targets which provide the core framework for DFID's programme. Related to these, we have a number of gender equity targets in our Public Service Agreement. Progress against these is set out in our 2002 departmental report.

Equal Treatment

Sandra Gidley: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what new data series separated by gender, race, disability and age have been commissioned by her Department since August 1997.

Clare Short: DFID does not maintain any central record of data series in respect of its programme activities. As an employer, DFID maintains and analyses for internal purposes a range of human resources data on its staff, including gender, ethnic origin, disability and age. Since August 1997 this has been expanded to include analysis of our staff appraisal and promotion systems by, among other things, gender, ethnic origin, disability and age. The principal indicators, such as staff in post, are contained in DFID's departmental report 2002, a copy of which can be found in the House of Commons Library.

Implementation Group

Joan Ruddock: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development if she will make a statement on the Implementation Group meeting in Kabul on 10 and 11 April.

Clare Short: The first meeting of the Implementation Group for Afghanistan's Reconstruction took place in Kabul on 10 and 11 April, hosted by the Afghan Interim Administration (AIA). The Afghan Finance Minister chaired the meeting, and discussions centred on presentations of the recurrent budget of the AIA, the draft National Development Framework, and the establishment of practical aid co-ordination mechanisms between donors and the AIA. My Department was represented by senior officials.

Humanitarian Assistance (Middle East)

Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development 
	(1)  what plans her Department has for providing (a) water, (b) food and (c) medication to the Palestinian civilian population once access to the whole of the West Bank can be secured; and if she will make a statement;
	(2)  what medical supplies her Department has (a) pledged and (b) delivered to the Palestinian Red Crescent Society since 1 April; and if she will make a statement;
	(3)  how much money her Department has (a) pledged and (b) given to the Palestinian Red Crescent Society for the purchase of ambulances and medical supplies since 1 April; and if she will make a statement;
	(4)  what assistance her Department has provided the Palestinian Red Crescent Society since 1 April; and if she will make a statement.

Clare Short: We are working closely with our development partners to try to determine the full extent of the damage and the humanitarian consequences and priority needs arising from the current conflict. It is important that assistance is fully co-ordinated.
	Our bilateral assistance programme is planned at £12 million this year. This includes support, through local NGOs for a number of emergency programmes in health, trauma counselling and special education needs which have been able to respond to the intensified crisis. We have also disbursed £12 million of our annual contribution to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees' General Fund, and made a £5 million contribution to UNRWA's 2002 Emergency Appeal. We are providing direct assistance to help set up a Humanitarian Information Centre and have provided £500,000 to the World Food Programme for emergency needs. We are discussing with UNRWA further support to help clear and rebuild Jenin refugee camp. In addition we contribute substantially through our share of EC and World bank activities. We have not provided any direct support to the Palestinian Red Crescent Society since 1 April.
	We are monitoring the situation closely and aim to continue to respond appropriately.

Humanitarian Assistance (Middle East)

Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what reports she has received on the status of the Save the Children Fund water and sanitation projects in (a) Dura, (b) Anabta, (c) Jabalia and (d) Rafah; what the impact of the current campaign of the Israeli Defence Force has been (i) on the operation of the projects and (ii) on the piped water supplies, sewerage pipes and drains associated with them; and if she will make a statement.

Clare Short: Save the Children Fund reports continued steady progress and expects to meet the overall objectives on time. The projects are leading to improvements in both the quality and quantity of water for household consumption, and better sanitary standards as the majority of homes are connected to new sewage networks. The continued conflict and closures has inevitably had an impact on the project communities where homes and infrastructure have been damaged and destroyed. Project equipment has also been embargoed by the Israeli authorities, but it has often been possible to circumvent this by creative means.

Ministerial Accommodation

Nigel Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what publicly owned accommodation is made available to her in her official role; how many nights she has been in residence at each of these properties in the last 12 months; and what the total cost is of maintaining each of these properties.

Clare Short: There is no publicly owned accommodation available to me in my post except when I stay at ambassadors' residences when travelling abroad.

EDUCATION AND SKILLS

Amy Gehring

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if she will make a statement on actions taken by her Department as a result of the Amy Gehring case.

Stephen Timms: My Department reviewed its procedures following this case. That review shows that our procedures were not at fault. However, in order to improve safeguards for children we have laid amendments to the Education Bill in the Lords, which will strengthen still further requirements to report instances of misconduct to the Department. These will extend the existing responsibility on employers, including agencies, to schools and other education institutions using a person's services. In addition, my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry, whose Department regulates agencies under the Employment Agencies Act 1973, is reviewing the Conduct regulations under that Act. My Department is engaged in that process.

Teaching Assistants

Kevin McNamara: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what measures she has introduced to encourage schools to employ teaching assistants on all-year-round contracts.

Stephen Timms: holding answer 7 May 2002
	I refer my hon. Friend to the reply I gave to the hon. Member for Roxburgh and Berwickshire (Mr. Kirkwood) on 8 March 2002, Official Report, column 626W.

London Weighting

Jenny Tonge: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what plans she has to ensure that the central London weighting allowance applies to teachers living in outer London boroughs.

Stephen Timms: Decisions on London allowances for teachers in 2002–03 have now been taken in the light of advice from the independent School Teachers Review Body and consultation. The levels of the allowances were increased by 3.5 per cent. from 1 April, further to the 30 per cent. increases in 2001, and the structure of the allowances was unchanged. The level for inner London is £3,105 and the level for outer London is £2,043. London allowances will be kept under review for future years. Schools are free to make use of recruitment and retention allowances as circumstances demand.

Early Retirement (Teachers)

Gerry Steinberg: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many teachers (a) applied for and (b) were refused early retirement on the grounds of ill health in (i) 1992–93, (ii) 1993–94 and (iii) 1995–96.

Stephen Timms: The numbers of members of the Teachers' Pension Scheme who retired on the grounds of ill health in each of the years in question were:
	
		
			  Number 
		
		
			 1992–93 4,867 
			 1993–94 5,565 
			 1994–95 6,075 
			 1995–96 5,980 
		
	
	Information about the number of applications that were rejected is available only from 1996 when an electronic handling system was introduced.

Teachers' Pension Scheme

Desmond Swayne: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if she will make a statement about the accountability to her Department of Capita Business Services Ltd. regarding the administration of the teachers' pension scheme.

Stephen Timms: The responsibilities of Capita Business Services Ltd. for the administration of the teachers' pension scheme are set out in a detailed contract and statement of service requirements. Performance against service standards, together with compliance with legislative and other requirements, is actively managed by the Department's finance, contract and internal audit teams. The teachers' pension scheme accounts and administration are also subject to annual scrutiny by the National Audit Office.

Individual Learning Accounts

Alistair Burt: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if she will compensate bona fide learning providers who can demonstrate that they have been financially disadvantaged by the accelerated date of closure of the individual learning accounts scheme.

John Healey: There are no plans to pay compensation to ILA registered learning providers. The Education and Skills Select Committee report about ILAs contains no new arguments or evidence on the case for compensation; the Department's position therefore remains unchanged.

Local Education Authority Finance

Nigel Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what the spending is (a) per head of population and (b) per pupil in each local education authority in England for 2001–02.

Stephen Timms: The information requested is not yet available. The Department is due to collect data relating to the 2001–02 financial year from this September. I shall write to the hon. Member when the information for 2001–02 is to hand.

Broadband

Nigel Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what proportion of schools have access to broadband internet access in (a) Lancashire, (b) the north- west of England and (c) England.

John Healey: Broadband internet access (2mbs or better) is provided through regional broadband consortia (RBCs). The target for August 2002 is for 20 per cent. of all schools (including 100 per cent. of secondaries) to have broadband connections. From the latest consortia returns (28 February 2002):
	13 per cent. of schools in Lancashire LEA already have broadband connections and this is expected to rise to 26 per cent. by August 2002;
	23 per cent. of schools within the north-west of England (covered by two RBCs) already have a broadband connection and this is expected to rise to 41 per cent. by August 2002;
	Nationally, approximately 14 per cent. of schools across England already have a broadband connection and this is expected to rise to 32 per cent. by August 2002, exceeding the current target.

Youth Projects

Phil Willis: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what plans she has for the future funding of the work done by Neighbourhood Support Fund youth projects.

Ivan Lewis: A total of £60 million was made available to the Neighbourhood Support Fund spread over three years. The current programme comes to an end in September 2003 and it has been successful in reaching out to some of the most disadvantaged young people in our communities. I will review the programme in the light of the departmental spending review.

Truancy

Nigel Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if she will estimate the number of school days lost to truancy each year in (a) the Lancashire education authority area and (b) England.

Ivan Lewis: The number of days missed due to unauthorised absence in the last three years are presented in the table. Data are based on the annual pupil absence survey that is conducted at the end of May and is based on the first five half-terms of the school year. We can not estimate the figures for the final half-term of the year as year 11 students attend irregularly while they take their GCSE examinations.
	
		Number of school sessions (half-days) missed due to unauthorised absences in maintained schools in Lancashire and England
		
			  Lancashire England 
		
		
			 2000–01   
			 Day pupils of compulsory school age 160,768 6,698,285 
			 Total possible pupil sessions(2),(3) 49,196,000 1,987,849,000 
			 Total sessions missed 271,216 14,833,790 
			 Total number of days missed 135,608 7,416,895 
			
			 1999–2000   
			 Day pupils of compulsory school age 162,979 6,636,828 
			 Total possible pupil sessions(2),(3) 50,834,000 1,990,299,000 
			 Total sessions missed 281,090 14,479,457 
			 Total number of days missed 140,545 7,239,729 
			
			 1998–99   
			 Day pupils of compulsory school age 162,583 6,607,438 
			 Total possible pupil sessions(2),(3) 51,067,000 2,005,657,000 
			 Total sessions missed 301,308 15,053,051 
			 Total number of days missed 150,654 7,526,526 
		
	
	(2) Rounded to nearest 1,000
	(3) Total pupil sessions are calculated as (total number of pupils) X (total possible school sessions between September and May census date)

SOLICITOR-GENERAL

Street Crime Initiative

Vera Baird: To ask the Solicitor-General whether she will make a statement on the role of the Crown Prosecution Service within the Government's Street Crime Initiative.

Harriet Harman: As part of the cross- Government strategy to reduce street crime, a premium service will target likely offenders and crime areas and will ensure that offenders are investigated and prosecuted with skill and determination. Victims and witnesses will be given extra support. Experienced lawyers and detectives will handle cases and they will work closely together. An extra £6 million is being allocated to the Crown Prosecution Service to free up experienced lawyers to concentrate on this work.

Sentence Referrals

Andrew Turner: To ask the Solicitor-General when she last considered extending the 28-day period for references back to the Crown Prosecution Service of unduly lenient sentences; and what her conclusions were.

Harriet Harman: The Criminal Justice Act 1988 (schedule 3) prescribes that notice of an application for leave to refer a case to the Court of Appeal, under section 36 of the same Act, shall be given within 28 days from the day on which the sentence was passed. Legislation would be required to amend this time limit.

Sentence Referrals

Gordon Marsden: To ask the Solicitor-General how many sentence referrals to the Court of Appeal on the grounds of undue lenience have resulted in sentences being increased in each of the last five years for which figures are available.

Harriet Harman: holding answer 2 May 2002
	The following figures are available. These figures represent the number of offenders whose cases were referred to the Court of Appeal:
	
		
			   Number of:  
			 Year(4) References to Court of Appeal Sentences increased 
		
		
			 1997 70 47 
			 1998 96 69 
			 1999 88 51 
			 2000 93 (5)64 
			 2001 154 (5)71 
		
	
	(4) 1 January to 31 December
	(5) There are still cases from 2000 and 2001, which are yet to be heard by the Court of Appeal

Consultants

James Gray: To ask the Solicitor-General how many contracts the Law Officers Department has with consultants; what level of professional indemnity insurance is standard in contracts with small consultants; whether she can make exceptions to the level of professional indemnity insurance; and what recent discussions she has had with other Government Departments about the level of professional indemnity insurance.

Harriet Harman: holding answer 18 April 2002
	My own Department, the Legal Secretariat to the Law Officers, has no current contracts with consultants.
	The Crown Prosecution Service in common with other Government Departments employs the services of consultants from time to time. However, the information requested as to the number of such contracts is not recorded centrally and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
	The Department's standard terms and conditions of contract for consultancy work only necessitate consultants to hold professional indemnity insurance where this is required by law. The level of indemnity insurance is not specified and where required would be subject to negotiation and agreement prior to the award of any contract.
	The Treasury Solicitor's Department has 28 current contracts with consultants who are assisting it on a range of issues. The level of professional indemnity insurance required is related to the nature of the work required and the assessment of risk attached to it.
	At the present time the Serious Fraud Office has nine contracts with small or sole trader consultants covering a range of issues, including information technology and security. In addition there are other specific contracts for expert advice related to operational cases.
	Professional indemnity insurance levels are not standardised and are set at a level appropriate to the size of the contract and the risk involved.
	HM Crown Prosecution Service Inspectorate has one current contract. The contract does not provide for professional indemnity insurance.
	It is not the Government's practice to provide details of discussions which form part of the process of policy development and analysis, therefore I am unable to answer your final question.

TRANSPORT, LOCAL GOVERNMENT AND THE REGIONS

Best Value

David Chaytor: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what discussions he has had with the Audit Commission in respect of the guidance contained in its publication Competitive Procurement relating to the operation of best value to the categorisation of the overall performance of local authorities; and if he will make a statement.

Alan Whitehead: My Department has had no formal discussions with the Audit Commission about its publication Competitive Procurement. The Audit Commission acts independently of Government, and the views expressed in its publications are its own. Having said this the Government welcome the Audit Commission's report, which is based on the evidence of audit and inspection, and recognises it as a valuable contribution to our drive to improving public services. I expect local authorities will find it useful.

Railways

Rachel Squire: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions if he will make a statement on recruitment levels and recruitment processes for railway maintenance workers in the nations and regions of the United Kingdom.

David Jamieson: Recruitment levels and processes are matters for those in the rail industry.

Road Links (Newcastle to Edinburgh)

Theresa May: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions 
	(1)  what work is planned on the A1 between Newcastle and Edinburgh;
	(2)  what major infrastructure work has been carried out on the A1 between Newcastle and Edinburgh in the last 15 years; and in each case (a) what the aim and nature of the works were, (b) which Government body was responsible, (c) how long the works took and (d) how much the works cost;
	(3)  what recent analysis has been carried out into alternative routes for traffic using the A1 between Newcastle and Edinburgh.

Stephen Byers: I have asked the chief executive of the Highways Agency, Tim Matthews to write to the hon. Member.
	Letter from David York to Mrs. Theresa May, dated 9 May 2002
	Tim Matthews has been asked by the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions, to reply to your recent Parliamentary Questions about the A1 between Newcastle and Edinburgh. I am replying since Tim is currently away on Highways Agency business.
	The Highways Agency has responsibility for this route between Newcastle and the Scottish Border.
	Works currently planned by us for that length of the road include improvements to the A1 Stannington Grade Separated Junction and widening the Newcastle Western Bypass to take account of planning conditions imposed on development at Newcastle Great Park. The latter scheme is funded wholly by the developer.
	In addition, we will be carrying out maintenance work including resurfacing north of Morpeth, improving the Seven Mile Bridge north of Seaton Burn and repainting Clifton Bridge at the south end of Morpeth Bypass.
	The Government Office led A1 Multi-Modal study is looking at alternatives to the A1. The study is expected to report very shortly.
	A number of works have been carried out on this length of road over the last 15 years. Prior to 1994 schemes were handled by the Department of Transport. Since 1994 the Highways Agency has been responsible. A list of those works is attached.
	If you require any further information, David Harvey in our Leeds office will be happy to assist you. He can be contacted at the Highways Agency, City House, New Station Street, Leeds, LS1 4UR or by telephone on 0113 283 5814.
	
		
			 Aim and nature of scheme Duration (if known) Cost (if known) (£) 
		
		
			 A1 Stannington Diversion (Clifton to Stannington Bridge)—dual carriageway bypass of Stannington Village 2 years 6.4 million 
			 A1 South of Alnwick—upgrading to dual carriageway 7 months 0.8 million 
			 A1 Newcastle Western Bypass—6.9 miles of dual carriageway with grade separated junctions 4 years 116.3 million 
			 A1 Marshall Meadows Improvement—1.7 miles upgrade to dual carriageway 15 months 4.1 million 
			 A1 Brownieside Improvement—dual carriageway bypass 17 months 5.5 million 
			 A1 Blagdon Bridge—new overbridge and grade separated junction 10 months 1.4 million 
			 A1 Hitchcroft to Cawledge—upgrade to dual carriageway 15 months 2.8 million 
			 A1 Felton to Lanehead—upgrade to dual carriageway 9 months 2.3 million 
			 A1 Willowburn to Denwick—upgrade to dual carriageways (currently on site) Under construction 8 million 
			 A1 Newcastle Great Park—Brunton Interchange improvements(6) 9 months 800,000 
		
	
	(6) The scheme at Newcastle Great Park is being funded by a private developer. All other schemes have been funded by central Government.

Road Links (Newcastle to Edinburgh)

Theresa May: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what estimate he has made of the increase in traffic on the A1 between Newcastle and Edinburgh over the lifetime of the 10-year plan.

Stephen Byers: The 10-year plan applies to England. As part of the work carried out in connection with the A1 multi-modal study, consultants have assessed potential traffic growth on the A1 between Newcastle and the Scottish border just north of Berwick on Tweed.
	Flows on the A1 are currently:
	New Morpeth—16,200 vehicles per day
	Alnwick to Berwick on Tweed—8,600 vehicles per day.
	Estimates show that in 2011 flows on the A1 are expected to be in the region of:
	New Morpeth—19,100 vehicles per day
	Alnwick to Berwick on Tweed—10,100 vehicles per day.

Fire Service College

Phil Hope: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what targets he intends setting to assess the performance of the fire service college during 2002–03.

Alan Whitehead: The work of the fire service college contributes directly to the Department's aim of safe communities and its objectives of improving health and safety by reducing risks from work activity, buildings and fire. Its role is to deliver modern vocational training to the fire service of a type and to a standard that fully meets brigades' needs. The college should operate cost- effectively and should enthusiastically meet the diversity requirements of its customers and employees. In this context, I have agreed the following six targets for the fire service college in 2002–03.
	1. To maximise the fire service college's contribution to the Government's programme to improve health, education and transport and reduce crime by:
	equipping 100 per cent. of the trainers the fire service college trains to disseminate best practice and verify that by post-course assessment;
	maintaining the quality of the fire service college's education, training and service delivery as externally assessed to the same or a better level of conformance achieved in the previous year, in every case; and
	ensuring that the wider relevance to the community of fire prevention and fire safety is embedded in the fire service college curriculum to the extent that it features in 100 per cent. of appropriate courses.
	2. To accommodate 100 per cent. of bids from UK fire brigades for courses published in the fire service college prospectus.
	3. To develop within a year a capability for delivering to customer satisfaction risk management training and e-learning programmes for retained officers and for responding to any centrally determined need for decontamination training.
	4. To have a series of Integrated Personal Development System compliant modules linked to five roles ready for delivery by April 2003, having obtained full stakeholder endorsement.
	5. By April 2003 to further improve the agency's financial performance by:
	increasing surplus by at least 2 per cent. in real terms;
	achieving 6.5 per cent. return on capital employed; and
	maintaining wider market business in support of UK fire brigade business by contributing 20 per cent. to overall business and creating a net contribution to fixed costs of at least £1.3 million.
	6. To obtain a favourable assessment in year from Quality South West for progress towards recovering Investor in People status in 2003–04 and to make progress on diversity issues by:
	increasing the percentage of women at middle and senior level in the fire service college; carrying out an equalities audit of the fire service college climate, facilities and products; and
	equality proofing the pay system.

New Dimension Group

Jeffrey M Donaldson: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what levels of additional funding have been allocated to fire services to meet the needs identified by the New Dimension Group arising from the increased level of threat from terrorism since 11 September.

Alan Whitehead: In answer to a question from my hon. Friend the Member for South Ribble (Mr. Borrow), 27 February 2002, Official Report, column 1373, I said that we were providing £53 million funding for the fire service to give further protection to the public and emergency services in the event of a major chemical, biological or radiological attack. We are continuing to consider the case for additional resources in the light of the information provided by the New Dimension Group.

New Dimension Group

Jeffrey M Donaldson: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions whether membership of New Dimension Group includes representatives of the Chief Fire Officers Association from (a) England, (b) Wales, (c) Scotland and (d) Northern Ireland; and whether the Fire Brigades Union is represented on the group.

Alan Whitehead: Yes. The chief and assistant chief fire officers associations from Scotland, Northern Ireland, England and Wales are represented on the New Dimension Group, as is the Fire Brigades Union.

Housing

Theresa May: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what assessment was made of congestion levels in each region when determining the level of provision made for new additional housing; and what influence this had on the final level of provision made for new additional housing outlined in regional planning guidance.

Stephen Byers: Annual rates of housing provision are established through regional planning guidance and the spatial strategy it sets out. The strategy is prepared having regard to a number of matters including the capacity of urban areas to accommodate more housing, the physical and social infrastructure needed to support additional housing and the environmental implications of doing so.

Housing

Theresa May: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what the estimated environmental costs is to each local authority arising from the level of provision made for new additional housing; and what influence this had on the final level of provision made for new additional housing as outlined in regional planning guidance.

Stephen Byers: Annual rates of housing provision are established through regional planning guidance and the spatial strategy it sets out. The draft strategy is subjected to a sustainability appraisal in accordance with good practice guidance issued by my Department. A report outlining the findings of this appraisal is published prior to the public examination of the draft strategy. This report is an important consideration for the panel that holds the public examination and for me in considering what changes, if any, to make to the draft strategy following receipt of their report.

Housing

Colin Breed: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions, pursuant to the answer of 10 January 2002, Official Report, column 976W, on affordable housing, what the proportion of affordable homes in rural areas was to the total number of affordable homes for each year since 1990.

Sally Keeble: The table shows the number and proportion of affordable homes in rural areas (with a population of 3,000 or fewer) funding through the Housing Corporation's Approved Development Programme and by local authorities compared with the total number of affordable homes funded by the same means in England in each year since 1990.
	
		
			 Year Rural All (England)  % of completions that are rural 
		
		
			 1991–92 803 31,504 2.6 
			 1992–93 2,268 50,045 4.5 
			 1993–94 1,567 64,834 2.4 
			 1994–95 1,341 70,781 1.9 
			 1995–96 1,811 68,790 2.6 
			 1996–97 1,678 51,412 3.3 
			 1997–98 2,020 45,765 4.4 
			 1998–99 1,792 42,011 4.3 
			 1999–2000 1,533 33,808 4.5 
			 2000–01 1,278 30,931 4.1 
			 2001–02 1,371 29,846 4.6

Housing

Colin Breed: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions, pursuant to the answer of 10 January 2002, Official Report, column 976W, on affordable housing, how many affordable homes in rural settlements in England with a population of 3,000 or less were completed and funded by 31 March.

Sally Keeble: 1,371 affordable homes in small settlements with a population of 3,000 or fewer were completed and funded through the Housing Corporation's Approved Development Programme and by local authorities from 1 April 2001 to 31 March 2002.

Housing

Colin Breed: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions, pursuant to the answer of 31 January 2002, Official Report, column 448W, on affordable housing, what the Housing Corporation's budget was in each of the last 10 years; and what amount was allocated to its (a) revenue and (b) capital programmes.

Sally Keeble: The table shows the Housing Corporation's capital and revenue expenditure for the years 1993–94 to 2001–02. The figures for 2002–03 are the budget figures for the current year.
	
		Housing Corporation expenditure -- Outturn £ million
		
			  Capital Revenue Total 
		
		
			 1993–94 1,796.4 136.0 1,932.4 
			 1994–95 1,483.5 146.1 1,629.6 
			 1995–96 1,142.2 199.9 1,342.1 
			 1996–97 1,044.4 198.8 1,243.2 
			 1997–98 683.8 217.3 901.1 
			 1998–99 606.5 207.6 814.1 
			 1999–2000 637.8 149.3 787.1 
			 2000–01 717.0 154.0 871.0 
			 2001–02 774.6 143.0 917.6 
			 2002–03 917.6 184.3 1,101.9 
		
	
	Notes:
	1. Capital outturn is for ADP funding only.
	2. Revenue funding includes Supported Housing Management Grant, Innovation and Good Practice Grants, Supplementary Management Grant, Tax Relief Grant, Hostel Deficit Grant, Revenue Deficit Grant, Rough Sleepers Initiative and Estate Renewal Challenge Fund Grant.
	3. This table does not include local authority social housing grant funding.

Martin Sixsmith

Andrew Turner: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions, pursuant to his oral statement of 26 February 2002, Official Report, column 563, if he will make a statement on Mr. Sixsmith's agreement to resign; and when he was told, and by whom, that Mr. Sixsmith had resigned.

Stephen Byers: I refer the hon. Gentleman to the oral statement I have made in the House today.

Fraud

Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what the estimated level of losses to fraud and corruption was in (a) his Department's Vote 1 budget and (b) his Department's Vote 2 budget for (i) 1999–2000 and (ii) 2000–01.

Stephen Byers: The only proven loss due to fraud or corruption for which my Department is accountable is a theft of £20 from a cash box. This was accounted for in the Class III Vote 1 Appropriation Account for 1999–2000.
	This does not include any loss suffered by any non-departmental public body funded from either vote where their accounts are prepared separately and laid before Parliament and published separately.
	Nor does it include any losses due to fraud in rent rebates. Rent rebates granted to local authority tenants are reimbursed through Housing Revenue Account Subsidy, for which this Department has overall responsibility. Rent rebates are analogous to rent allowances paid in respect of tenants of private landlords, and together they comprise housing benefit.
	Responsibility for housing benefit policy, including policy on fraud, lies with DWP. A full note on the implications of housing benefit fraud for HRA subsidy is appended to the Appropriation Account for Vote 1 for each of the years concerned.

Mobile Phone Masts

Theresa May: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what recent discussions he has had with his counterparts in (a) other member states of the European Union, (b) Australia and (c) New Zealand on the safe levels of radiation from mobile phone masts.

Yvette Cooper: holding answer 7 May 2002
	I have been asked to reply.
	Ministers have not had recent discussions with their respective counterparts. However departmental officials and the National Radiological Protection Board are supporting international electromagnetic field standardisation activities in terms of reviewing the fundamental science, providing advice on guidelines to protect people from adverse health effects and assisting in the development of technical standards.
	The United Kingdom contributes to the development of European and international technical standards concerning the safety of mobile telephony through the European Committee on Electrotechnical Standardisation (CENELEC) and the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC).
	United Kingdom delegates are members of the CENELEC mobile telephone project team that have developed standards for mobile phones and produced draft documents on mobile phone base stations (phone masts). The documents provide standardised methods by which compliance with health-based guidelines can be assessed.

CULTURE MEDIA AND SPORT

Golden Jubilee

Geoffrey Clifton-Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what rent is being paid for the Golden Jubilee Office in 85 Buckingham Gate; what the prevailing average rent per square foot in the building was prior to this rent being negotiated; and which firm advised on the negotiations.

Richard Caborn: The office at 85 Buckingham Gate was taken over from the Home Office at an annual rental of £165,000 net, as a result of the Machinery of Government changes. The DCMS were not a party to any negotiations on rent. The prevailing average rent for that particular building prior to this rent being agreed is not known, as this figure is a matter between the landlord and the former tenants. However, the rental figure was in line with the average market rent for the properties in that area. Lambert Smith Hampton, Property Management, acted for the Home Office in the lease negotiations.

Portable Antiquities Scheme

Desmond Swayne: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport if she will make a statement about the future funding of the Portable Antiquities Scheme.

Kim Howells: The Heritage lottery fund trustees met on 23 April to consider a bid for the three-year funding of a full network of finds liaison officers to cover the whole of England and Wales. The fund has now informed the scheme officials of the outcome, and will announce the details of its decision later this week.

Portable Antiquities Scheme

Desmond Swayne: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what recent representations she has received regarding the future of the Portable Antiquities Scheme.

Kim Howells: My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State and my right hon. and noble Friend the Minister for the Arts have received 19 letters commenting on the success of the Portable Antiquities Scheme, and calling for its long-term funding to be secured. Most of these representations have been submitted by metal detectorists.

National Lottery

Sue Doughty: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport if she will make a statement on the distribution of the reserve funds for National Lottery good causes in the last two years; and if she will make a statement.

Richard Caborn: Funds generated by the National Lottery for good causes are held in the National Lottery Distribution Fund (NLDF), until distributing bodies need to draw them down to meet expenditure incurred by grant recipients. Under Government accounting rules, and under their financial directions, distributing bodies may not draw down moneys from the NLDF in advance of need. Any interest earned on money held in the NLDF is added to the amount available for distribution to good causes.
	Commitments by distributing bodies collectively at 31 March 2002 totalled £4.12 billion, some £568 million more than was in the overall NLDF balance (£3.55 billion). This compares with commitments of £3.66 billion at 31 March 2001; £212 million more than the total NLDF balance at the same date (£3.45 billion).

Royal Parks Agency

Mark Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport 
	(1)  if she will reserve a place for a representative of the Friends of Hyde Park and Kensington Gardens on the board of trustees of the new non-departmental public body which is to replace the Royal Parks Agency;
	(2)  what her policy is on the representation of the interests of public users of the Hyde Park and Kensington Gardens on the new non-departmental public body which is to replace the Royal Parks Agency.

Kim Howells: The board of trustees will comprise a number of trustees with different skills and experience. There will not be a specific trustee position on the board for a representative of the Friends of Hyde Park and Kensington Gardens. To reflect the parks' links with a variety of organisations, not just the Friends, a trustee post will be created titled 'Community Relations' which will be responsible for developing links with the whole community.

Ministerial Accommodation

Nigel Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what publicly owned accommodation is made available to her in her official role; how many nights she has been in residence at each of these properties in the last 12 months; and what the total cost was of maintaining each of these properties in the last 12 months.

Richard Caborn: None.

NORTHERN IRELAND

Data Protection Act

Matthew Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will place in the Library copies of each version of the internal guidance which have been drawn up by his Department since 1 January 1999 to assist staff in his Department to answer subject access requests under the Data Protection Act 1998.

Jane Kennedy: I refer the hon. Gentleman to the answer my hon. Friend the Member for North Swindon (Mr. Wills) gave to a question from my hon. Friend the Member for Birmingham, Hall Green (Mr. McCabe) on 25 April 2002, Official Report, column 446W.

FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH AFFAIRS

EU-Israel Association Agreement

Lynne Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, pursuant to his answer of 21 January 2002, Official Report, column 583W, on the EU-Israel Association Agreement, what progress has been made in resolving the rules of origin issue under the EU-Israel Association; and whether the EU is reviewing its position on the continuance of the agreement.

Peter Hain: There have been further contacts between the EU and Israel with a view to resolving the rules of origin issue. These have not yet led to any significant progress. The EU has not changed its position on the continuation of the EU-Israel Agreement.

Chemical Weapons

Lynne Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs which countries are the main contributors to the funding of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons; which of them are in arrears with their contributions; and by how much.

Ben Bradshaw: The major contributors to the funding of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) amounting to approximately 70 per cent. of the OPCW's budget are: the United States (22 per cent.), Japan (20 per cent.), Germany (10 per cent.), France (7 per cent.), UK (6 per cent.) and Italy (5 per cent.). The UK, France and Italy have paid their contributions for 2002 in full. The United States and Germany usually make staged payments and have so far paid approximately 50 per cent. of their 2002 contributions. Japan is expected to pay the entire amount of its 2002 contribution around the middle of this year.

Cambodia

David Kidney: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs when he last met representatives of the Cambodian Government; and if he will make a statement on UK-Cambodian relations.

Ben Bradshaw: Opportunities for British Ministers to meet representatives of the Cambodian Government are limited. Cambodia does not have an embassy in London and plays only a limited role internationally. The last Foreign Office Minister to meet representatives of the Cambodian Government was the late Derek Fatchett in May 1998 during a visit to Cambodia. But British officials are in regular contact with the Cambodian Government through our embassy in Phnom Penh. We are keen to enhance UK/Cambodian relations and the Foreign Secretary wrote to his Cambodian counterpart in November 2001 encouraging the Cambodian Government to re-establish an embassy in London.

International Terrorism

Ian Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, pursuant to his answer of 16 April 2002, Official Report, column 828–29W, on international terrorism, if he will list the UN member states which have not fulfilled the obligation to submit a report to the Counter-Terrorism Committee on terrorist financing and providing safe havens for terrorists.

Denis MacShane: As of 30 April 2002, 142 of the UN's 189 member states had submitted a report to the Counter- Terrorism Committee. The following 47 states had not:
	Afghanistan
	Antigua and Barbuda
	Brunei
	Central African Republic
	Chad
	Comoros
	Republic of Congo
	Dominica
	Equatorial Guinea
	Eritrea
	Fiji
	Gambia
	Ghana
	Guinea-Bissau
	Guyana
	Haiti
	Kenya
	Kiribati
	Lesotho
	Liberia
	Mali
	Marshall Islands
	Mauritania
	Micronesia
	Nauru
	Nicaragua
	Palau
	Papua New Guinea
	Rwanda
	St. Kitts and Nevis
	St. Lucia
	St. Vincent
	Sao Tome and Principe
	Seychelles
	Sierra Leone
	Solomon Islands
	Surinam
	Swaziland
	Togo
	Tonga
	Turkmenistan
	Tuvalu
	Uganda
	Tanzania
	Vanuatu
	Zambia
	Zimbabwe.
	Information on which states have submitted reports can be obtained from the Counter-Terrorism Committee's website: http://www.un.org/docs/sc/committees/1373.

Government Information (Access)

Matthew Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what his Department's target time is for completing internal reviews under the Code of Practice on Access to Government Information; when this target time was established; if he is aiming to improve this target time; and if he will make a statement.

Denis MacShane: The FCO's target time for completing internal reviews under the Code of Practice on Access to Government Information is 20 working days. This target was established in 1997 and is in line with practice in other Government Departments. I have no present plans to deploy extra FCO staff and resources which are needed elsewhere to reduce this target time which I consider reasonable. Information on the FCO's response to requests and reviews under the code of practice is given in the monitoring report published by the Lord Chancellor's Department (LCD) in September 2001, available on their website or from them direct.

National Missile Defence

Jenny Tonge: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent discussions his Department has had with UK firms bidding for work on the US-initiated programme of national missile Defence; and if he will make a statement.

Ben Bradshaw: The Foreign and Commonwealth Office has not had any direct discussions with UK firms in relation to specific bids related to current US proposals for missile defence. Staff at the British embassy in Washington regularly give general advice to UK firms wishing to do business with the US Department of Defense (including the Missile Defense Agency) but have not had any discussions on specific bids on the US missile defence programme.

Taiwan

Jimmy Wray: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what discussions have taken place in the European Parliament about granting Taiwan observer status at the annual World Health Assembly.

Denis MacShane: We understand that the European Parliament has recently passed a resolution calling upon the World Health Organisation to grant observer status at the World Health Assembly to Taiwan.

Taiwan

Jimmy Wray: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent representations have been made to the World Health Organisation to re-admit Taiwan to the organisation.

Denis MacShane: The United Kingdom has not been involved in any direct representations to the World Health Organisation on this issue and will continue to work with other EU partners on a common position.

Gibraltar

Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment he has made of the risk to the security of Gibraltar from Spain.

Peter Hain: As I said in the House on 31 January 2002, Official Report, column 137WH, the aim of talks under the Brussels Process is to ensure a stable, prosperous and secure future for Gibraltar. And as my right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary said in the House on 5 February 2002, Official Report, column 735, we are convinced that this dialogue represents the best way forward for the people of Gibraltar.

Liaison Officers

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, pursuant to his answer of 26 March 2002, Official Report, column 815W, if he will provide a breakdown of the former occupations of the liaison officers indicating (a) how they are recruited, (b) their level of remuneration and (c) the restrictions on them taking up other appointments.

Denis MacShane: In accordance with good employer practice and under exemptions 8a and 12 of the Code of Practice on Access to Government Information, it is not appropriate to release such information into the public domain.

World Service

Gregory Barker: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs when he last met representatives from the World Service to discuss its plans for the future.

Denis MacShane: FCO Ministers meet the director of the BBC World Service formally every year to discuss World Service plans. The next such meeting will be in June. My right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary last met Mr. Byford on 11 October 2001. I last met Mr. Byford on 3 October 2001. The last meeting between an FCO Minister and the World Service was on 10 January 2002, when my noble Friend Baroness Symons met Mr. Byford on 10 January 2002. I am scheduled to meet with him on 13 May 2002 in a formal meeting but there are other occasions for informal meetings with Mr. Byford at which we discuss the excellent work of the World Service.

Iraq

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what his policy is on involving the United Nations in a decision to take military action against Iraq.

Ben Bradshaw: Iraq's obligations are unambiguously set out in the relevant UN Security Council Resolutions. No decision has been taken on military action against Iraq.

Israel

Ashok Kumar: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether advice to UK citizens intending to travel to the middle east has been amended as a result of the wounding of Kate Edwards in Israel.

Ben Bradshaw: Kate Edwards is an Australian national who was injured in Bethlehem. Our travel advice continues to strongly advise against travel to this area because of the continuing clashes between Israelis and Palestinians throughout the West Bank and Gaza.

Israel

Tony Lloyd: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on his policy towards export control licences for arms sales to Israel.

Ben Bradshaw: I refer my hon. Friend to the answer given to the right hon. and learned Member for North-East Fife (Mr. Campbell) on 15 April 2002, Official Report, column 722–23W.

Saudi Arabia

John Lyons: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations have been made to Saudi Arabia over the case of Mr. Alexander Mitchell.

Ben Bradshaw: FCO Ministers and officials have made repeated representations about Mr. Mitchell's case from the outset, including at the highest levels. My right hon. Friend the Prime Minister has made representations on numerous occasions directly with the Saudis. We will continue to do all we can for Mr. Mitchell and the other detained British nationals accused of involvement in bombings in Saudi Arabia.

Greece

Richard Spring: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what help the Government have given to the British planespotters in Greece (a) in assisting with providing expert witnesses for their case, (b) in helping them to meet their legal costs and (c) in ensuring that all relevant parties were aware of cultural differences that might be relevant to the case; and if he will make a statement.

Ben Bradshaw: The case referred to by the hon. Member is a legal matter. The group since conviction have lodged an appeal. It would not be appropriate, therefore, for me to comment on the details of the case. The group are fully aware that the British Government do not pay legal costs for British nationals overseas, whether detained, convicted or acquitted. Through FCO travel advice we endeavour to inform the general public as best we can about potential risks when travelling overseas. We continue to offer full consular assistance to the group.

China

Desmond Swayne: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent discussions he has had with his EU counterparts regarding the Chinese one child policy; and if he will make a statement.

Denis MacShane: We have not discussed this subject with EU partners recently. We have expressed our concerns to the Chinese authorities, including through the UK-China human rights dialogue, over abuses associated with the one child policy. We believe that coercion has no place in family planning programmes.

China

Desmond Swayne: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what discussions have taken place within the UN during the last two years about the Chinese one child policy.

Denis MacShane: We are not aware of any recent discussion of China's one child policy at the executive board of the UN Population Fund (UNFPA) or any other UN body. However monitoring of UNFPA's engagement with the Chinese Government on policy issues has taken place through at least two visits to China in the last two years by members of UNFPA's executive board.

Visa Appeals

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many people exercised their right of appeal in visitor visa cases in 2001.

Ben Bradshaw: 11,847 applicants appealed during 2001 (this figure is made up of 5,203 family visit appeals and 6,644 other non-settlement appeals).
	Statistical information on the number of applicants who exercised their right of appeal in visitor visa cases is only available from those entry clearance posts that provide monthly statistical information (110 posts in 2001).
	The remaining entry clearance posts submit information on an annual basis. To answer this question for all 166 posts the additional posts would have to extract the information requested manually, which could be done only at disproportionate cost.

Entry Clearance Decisions

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many decisions by entry clearance officers he has overturned since 7 June.

Ben Bradshaw: My right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary has not overturned any entry clearance decisions. As Minister responsible for entry clearance, I have overturned nine decisions since 7 June 2001.

Indonesia

Jimmy Wray: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs when he last met representatives from Indonesia; and what was discussed.

Ben Bradshaw: My right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary met Hasan Wirajuda, the Indonesian Foreign Minister, in the margins of the UN General Assembly in New York in November 2001. They discussed a wide range of issues affecting the UK's bilateral relationship with Indonesia, including the coalition against terrorism and the need for economic and political reform in Indonesia.

East Timor

Jimmy Wray: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on (a) the activities of the UN force in East Timor and (b) the elections there.

Ben Bradshaw: UN Security Council Resolution 1272 of 25 October 1999 established the UN Transitional Administration for East Timor (UNTAET), with a military component of up to 8,950 troops. These troops have carried out the full range of peacekeeping duties and contributed to a large number of reconstruction projects in East Timor. The successor mission to UNTAET, the UN Mission to East Timor (UNMISET) will come into effect on 20 May 2002 when the UN will hand over sovereignty to the democratically elected Government of East Timor. The downsizing of the UNMISET military component (from 5,000 troops) will take place gradually over two years.
	More than 90 per cent. of eligible voters turned out for the 30 August 2001 elections for the constituent assembly and more than 80 per cent. of eligible voters turned out for the Presidential election held on 14 April 2002. The campaigns were well run, the elections free and fair and the high turn outs demonstrated a determination to participate fully in the democratic process.

East Timor

Jimmy Wray: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will initiate a further inquiry into the deaths of Malcolm Rennie and Brian Peters in East Timor in 1975; and if he will make a statement.

Ben Bradshaw: Following the arrival of the UN Transitional Administration in East Timor (UNTAET), a number of people volunteered fresh information about the events in Balibo in 1975. In the light of this, in August 2000, the UN Prosecutor General took the decision to open an investigation into the deaths. The investigation continues. We will continue to monitor developments closely.

Tanzania

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, pursuant to his answer of 30 April 2002, Official Report, column 649W, on Tanzania, for how long it has been the practice of the Department not to disclose details of individual entry clearance cases in a public forum.

Ben Bradshaw: I refer my hon. Friend to my answer of 29 November 2001, Official Report, column 1080W, when he asked the same question.

Zimbabwe

Bob Russell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what contingency arrangements he has made for the possible arrival in the UK of British passport holders currently living in Zimbabwe; and if he will make a statement.

Maria Eagle: I have been asked to reply.
	There are no specific contingency plans in place for the possible arrival in the United Kingdom of UK passport holders currently living in Zimbabwe.
	The Home Office Immigration and Nationality Directorate, regularly liaise with other Government Departments, non-government organisations and the voluntary sector, in updating contingency plans which may be implemented in an emergency in the event of an influx of persons arriving in the United Kingdom.

WORK AND PENSIONS

Minimum Income Guarantee

David Wilshire: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many pensioners in Spelthorne claim the minimum income guarantee.

Ian McCartney: As at November 2001 there were 1,800 pensioners claiming the MIG in the parliamentary constituency of Spelthorne.
	Source:
	Income Support Statistics Quarterly Inquiries, November 2001.

Catering Services

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the cost was of (a) in-house canteen and (b) other catering services provided by his Department in each of the last four years.

Maria Eagle: Subsidies of various sizes for canteen facilities are provided in around 150 of our offices at a cost in 2001–02 of £3.5 million.

Winter Fuel Payment

David Willetts: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people (a) have been eligible for a winter fuel payment and (b) have received a winter fuel payment, including those eligible for backdated payments, in each year since 1997.

Maria Eagle: Winter fuel payments were issued automatically to around 10 million people receiving certain social security benefits for each of the winters 1997–98, 1998–99 and 1999–2000. Following the extension of the entitlement conditions to most people aged 60 and over, regardless of whether they were receiving a social security benefit, around 1.1 million further payments covering one, two or all three of these years have been issued following successful claims. It is not possible to relate these payments to specific years.
	In excess of 11.1 million payments were issued for winter 2000–01. Figures for winter 2001–02 are not yet available but are expected to be similar.
	The vast majority of those eligible in each year since 1997 have received payment.

Television Licences

Tim Yeo: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will list the (a) number and (b) total cost of television licences paid for by his Department.

Maria Eagle: holding answer 10 April 2002
	The BBC has confirmed that the number of free licences issued was 3.1 million in 2000–01, and 3.8 million in 2001–02, (the latter figure remains subject to audit).
	For the costs to the Department, I refer the hon. Member to my reply to the hon. Member for Northavon (Mr. Webb) on 14 March 2002, Official Report, column 1237W.

Pension Trustees

Tim Boswell: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what obligations on pension trustees are imposed by the Occupational Pensions Regulatory Authority to notify changes in status of schemes; and how many such changes (a) overall and (b) involving closure have been so notified in each of the last three years.

Ian McCartney: In almost all cases it is a legal requirement for pension scheme trustees to register details of their schemes with the Pension Schemes Registry which is run by the Occupational Pensions Regulatory Authority (Opra). On registration, trustees are required to tell the Registry for example: whether the scheme is an open, closed or frozen scheme; and whether the scheme provides money purchase benefits, benefits other than money purchase benefits, or a combination of both. Trustees must, by law, notify the Registry of any change to this information within 12 months of the occurrence of that change. If trustees, without reasonable cause, fail to comply with this requirement Opra can fine them.
	The numbers of schemes reporting (a) any status change and (b) closure, in each of the last three years, are shown in the table.
	
		Pension schemes that have reported (a) any change of status and (b) closure in each of the last three years
		
			  (a) Total number of schemes reporting any changes in status during the year (b) Numbers of schemes closed during the year 
		
		
			 1999–2000 3,233 308 
			 2000–01 2,080 336 
			 2001–02 1,703 245 
		
	
	Notes:
	1. The information is based on data held by the Pension Schemes Registry (PSR). It covers all schemes including those offering salary-related benefits, money-purchase benefits and mixed benefits as well as schemes where the benefit type is not recorded in the PSR system.
	2. A scheme's status will be one of the following. Open schemes admit new members. Closed schemes do not admit new active members, but allow existing members to continue to accrue benefits. Frozen schemes do not allow any future accruals. Schemes starting to wind up are also frozen. Schemes that have completed wind up have no members—all assets are realised and all liabilities are discharged. Column (a) shows all changes in status with an effective date during the specified year.
	3. The PSR system holds information on the most recent change in scheme status and the effective date of the change. Because of the way the data are held a later change will overwrite an earlier change, so data for earlier years become increasingly inaccurate. Trustees are required to report changes within 12 months so there is likely to be a lag before the data reflects what is happening currently.

Long-stay Patient Benefit

Bob Laxton: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what plans he has to raise the level of benefit given to long-stay patients.

Ian McCartney: There are no plans to change the level to which benefits are reduced for hospital in-patients who have been in hospital for more than 52 weeks.
	The hospital downrating rules prevent double provision from public funds as the publicly funded NHS maintains people while they stay in hospital as well as providing free treatment. Social security maintenance benefits are also paid from state funds.
	The double provision principle is a key cornerstone of the system of national insurance introduced over 50 years ago.

Long-stay Patient Benefit

Bob Laxton: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people in the United Kingdom are in receipt of long-stay patient benefit because they suffer from mental illness.

Ian McCartney: The information requested is not available.

Hospitalisation (Benefit Downrating)

Roger Berry: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many disabled adults have their disability living allowance withdrawn because they have been in hospital for four weeks or longer.

Maria Eagle: When disability living allowance recipients aged 16 or over have been in hospital for 28 days, payments are suspended pending their discharge. This is because DLA is paid as a contribution towards the extra costs faced by severely disabled people as a result of their disabilities. In hospital, the disability related needs giving rise to those costs are met free of charge, and to continue payment of DLA in these circumstances would amount to duplicate provision from public funds. Information is not available on the annual number of suspensions resulting from these circumstances. The latest available information is that, at 30 November 2001, about 11,700 claims were at that time recorded as suspended as a result of a stay in hospital.
	This figure is based on 5 per cent. data and rounded to the nearest hundred.

Employment Statistics

Paul Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will make a statement on the participation of workers aged over 65 years in paid employment for OECD countries, by occupation type and average earnings.

Maria Eagle: The information is not readily available. Such information as is available is in the table.
	
		Employment rate of those aged 65 years and over for OECD countries, 2000 -- Percentage
		
			  OECD data  Eurostat data 
		
		
			 Australia 5.9 — 
			 Austria — 2.9 
			 Belgium 1.6 1.6 
			 Canada 5.9 — 
			 Czech Republic 3.9 — 
			 Denmark 2.5 2.5 
			 Finland 3.9 2.3 
			 France 1.3 1.1 
			 Germany 2.8 2.6 
			 Greece 5.3 5.3 
			 Hungary 2.7 — 
			 Iceland 31.6 35.3 
			 Ireland — 8.0 
			 Italy 3.2 3.1 
			 Japan 22.1 — 
			 Korea 29.0 — 
			 Luxembourg 1.7 1.6 
			 Mexico 31.3 — 
			 Netherlands 3.2 2.6 
			 New Zealand 7.6 — 
			 Norway 10.8 10.5 
			 Poland 7.6 — 
			 Portugal 18.4 18.4 
			 Slovak Republic 0.7 — 
			 Spain 1.6 1.6 
			 Sweden 10.2 4.9 
			 Switzerland 10.3 9.4 
			 Turkey 20.2 — 
			 UK 5.2 5.2 
			 US 12.4 — 
		
	
	Notes:
	1. The employment rate is the proportion of all those aged 65 and over who are in employment. Persons in employment are defined as those who, during the reference week, did any work for pay or profit, or were not working but had jobs from which they were temporarily absent. Family workers are included.
	2. As OECD data are not available for all OECD countries, Eurostat data have also been provided to give a more comprehensive picture.
	3. Figures are rounded to one decimal place.
	4. OECD data for Hungary and Iceland show employment rates for those aged 65 to 74 only and not for all those aged 65 and over.
	Source:
	OECD data are calculated from OECD Labour Market Statistics; Eurostat data are from European Social Statistics—Labour Force Survey Result 2000, Table 4, European Communities, 2001.

Housing Benefit

Archy Kirkwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the answer of 18 April 2002, Official Report, column 1120W, on housing benefit, in what format information is available.

Malcolm Wicks: holding answer 7 May 2002
	Under Best Value, the time taken by local authorities to process housing benefit claims is collected as an average number of calendar days. There is no measure of the proportion of claims processed within a set period from date of receipt to date of determination.

LORD CHANCELLOR

Libra Project

Mark Todd: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department if he will place copies of OGC Gateway reviews of the Libra project in the Library.

Michael Wills: I am unable to place copies of these OGC reviews in the Library given the commercial sensitivity involved. Compliance with my hon. Friend's request would impair the value added by the Gateway Review process. This relies on the provision of an in-depth, commercially confidential, report for the sole use of the senior responsible officer for the project under review.
	The Government remain determined to provide magistrates courts with modern computer equipment and the standardised IT systems that they need and we believe the outcome of discussions currently under way with Fujitsu Services (formerly ICL) will ensure their earliest delivery and provide value for money to the tax payer. These will be concluded shortly, and the House will be informed of the outcome.

Data Protection Act

Matthew Taylor: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department, pursuant to his answer of 19 March 2002, Official Report, column 188W, regarding the Data Protection Act 1998, since when his Department has conducted a review of the operation of the Data Protection Act 1998; and if he will place copies of the results of these reviews in the Library.

Michael Wills: The Government started an appraisal of the Data Protection Act 1998 in September 2000 with a public consultation exercise. The timing was geared to the European Commission's first report on the implementation of the EC Data Protection Directive which was due in October 2001. That report has been delayed, and the Government have deferred completion of the appraisal of the 1998 Act until its timing is clearer. In December 2001 the Government published a summary of the responses to the September 2000 consultation. I am placing a copy in the Library.

Building Projects

Jane Griffiths: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department if he will list the building projects under construction; and what coolant will be used for the building services water chilling system for such projects.

Michael Wills: While there are no building projects currently in construction, there are a number in the planning and development stages, including private finance initiative and private developer schemes. We have excluded any magistrates court schemes, as local authorities are responsible for these.
	The Department's Environmental Policy for Building Requirements applies to all major construction projects. The Department's policy is for natural ventilation for buildings whenever possible and only to install cooling systems where absolutely necessary. Where cooling cannot be avoided, designers are required to investigate systems which minimise environmental impact in terms of ozone depletion and global warming, using refrigerants with a zero ozone depletion potential (ODP) such as R134a and R66. Where, for technical or other reasons, it is necessary to utilise refrigerants with an ODP greater than zero, designers are required to check that the plant can be easily and cheaply retrofitted with a zero ODP refrigerant in the future.
	Additionally, all major schemes are certified under the requirements of BREEAM (Building Research Establishment Environmental Assessment Method). BREEAM is a system for assessing the environmental performance of buildings. I am placing further information in the Libraries of both Houses.

Housing Benefit Departments (Summonses)

Archy Kirkwood: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department how many summonses using Civil Procedure Rules in possession cases have been issued to local authority housing benefit departments in each year since 1997.

Michael Wills: Figures showing the number of mortgage and rent possession actions entered in the county courts of England and Wales involving local authorities are provided in the table. However it should be noted that social landlord rent possession action statistics are collected only as combined figures involving local authorities and housing associations and no figures are held centrally exclusively for local authorities.
	
		Local authority mortgage and social landlord(7) rent possession actions entered
		
			 Year Number 
		
		
			 1997 109,932 
			 1998 141,224 
			 1999 147,485 
			 2000 151,709 
			 2001 151,841 
		
	
	(7) Figures include both local authorities and housing associations

Census Online

Graham Brady: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department what steps have been taken to ensure that 1901 Census Online will, when re-launched, be able to accommodate peaks of demand.

Rosie Winterton: The new system will incorporate a "cookie counter", by which users will be referred to a simple page with a "site busy" message at peak times. This will enable peaks of demand to be managed successfully.

Press Office

John Bercow: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department how many staff in his Department's press office have received (a) termination and (b) redundancy payments in each of the last four years.

Michael Wills: One member of LCD press office staff received a termination payment (in 1998–99) on resignation from the civil service. There have been no redundancy payments.

WALES

Public Appointments

Llew Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will list the (a) non-departmental public bodies and (b) task forces to which he has appointed members since the establishment of the National Assembly for Wales.

Paul Murphy: Information about the number of ministerial appointments to non-departmental public bodies is included in the Cabinet Office's annual report "Public Bodies". Copies are placed in the Library of the House and the report is published on the Cabinet Office website.
	Copies of the annual report on task forces and similar bodies have also been placed in the Library of the House and it is being made available on the Cabinet Office website.
	I have appointed one member to the Parliamentary Boundary Commission for Wales since the establishment of the National Assembly.

Welshpool Airport

Nigel Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what recent discussions he has had about the future capacity of Welshpool airport.

Paul Murphy: I have regular discussions with Assembly and UK Government ministerial colleagues on a wide range of transport matters, including regional airports in Wales.
	Aviation is a matter reserved to the UK Government. However Assembly officials have had close contact with DTLR colleagues over the Wales Air Services study, the on-going UK Regional Air Services Co-ordination study and the Wales Air Services consultation documents which are to be published shortly. These consultation documents will form the basis of a major public consultation exercise informing preparation of an Air Transport White Paper and will:
	look at a range of policy scenarios;
	set out options for development of capacity at regional airports such as Welshpool and associated surface access improvements in light of these scenarios;
	report key findings of the economic, environmental, social and airspace appraisal of these options which have been undertaken; and highlight interactions between different regional airports, and the various possible roles each might play.

Correspondence

Nigel Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many and what proportion of letters received by the Department in each of the last six months, were replied to in (a) under 15, (b) under 20, (c) under 30, (d) under 40 and (e) over 40 working days.

Paul Murphy: The information is contained in the following table:
	
		
			 Month (1) 15 days (2) 1 month (3) 2 months (4) 3 months (5) 3+ Total 
		
		
			 October 39 1 0 0 0 40 
			 November 37 5 3 0 0 45 
			 December 8 4 1 0 0 13 
			 January 26 4 1 0 0 31 
			 February 34 3 0 0 0 37 
			 March 23 2 0 0 0 25 
		
	
	Note:
	Columns 1 and 2 above are consistent with the requirements of the question but columns 3, 4 and 5 vary from it as the Wales Office collates its correspondence statistics slightly differently.

Ministerial Accommodation

Nigel Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what publicly owned accommodation is made available to him in his official role; how many nights he has been in residence at each of these properties in the last 12 months; and what the total cost is of maintaining each of these properties.

Paul Murphy: None.

DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER

Ministerial Accommodation

Nigel Evans: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what publicly owned accommodation is made available to him in his official role; how many nights he has been in residence at each of these properties in the last 12 months; and what the total cost was of maintaining each of these properties in the last 12 months.

John Prescott: I refer the hon. Member to the answer that my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister gave to the hon. Member for Lewes (Norman Baker) on 28 February 2002, Official Report, column 1443W, and the answer I gave to the hon. Member for Westmorland and Lonsdale (Mr. Collins) on 21 January 2002, Official Report, column 599 and 28 January 2002, Official Report, column 91W.

PRESIDENT OF THE COUNCIL

Ministerial Accommodation

Nigel Evans: To ask the President of the Council what publicly owned accommodation is made available to him in his official role; how many nights he has been in residence at each of these properties in the last 12 months; and what the total cost was of maintaining each of these properties in the last 12 months.

Robin Cook: I refer the hon. Member to the answers given by my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister to the hon. Member for Lewes (Norman Baker), 28 February 2002, Official Report, column 1443W and by my right hon. Friend the Deputy Prime Minister to the hon. Member for Westmorland and Lonsdale (Mr. Collins), 21 January 2002, Official Report, column 599 and on 28 January 2002, Official Report, column 91W.
	To date, my Department has met no expenses on No. 1 Carlton Gardens since I became Leader of the House of Commons, although we await a transfer of costs from the Foreign Office.

HOME DEPARTMENT

Illegal Immigrants

Tom Cox: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many known illegal immigrants have reached the UK after travelling through the channel tunnel on freight trains in 2002.

Angela Eagle: It is not possible to establish precisely how many illegal entrants have reached the United Kingdom after travelling through the channel tunnel on freight trains. Some are detected inland and cannot be attributed to a particular port of entry and some claim to use the channel tunnel but have in fact entered by a different route.
	Information on the known number of illegal entrants who have arrived in the United Kingdom in 2002 is not yet available.
	Provisional management information for 2001 indicates that a total of 1,552 illegal entrants, who had been concealed on board freight trains, were detected on arrival at Dollands Moor freight yard.
	The locally collated figures show this total is broken down over the calendar year as follows: 504 (January–March), 240 (April-June), 183 (July-September) and 625 (October-December).

Complaints

Colin Breed: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many complaints were registered against his Department in (a) 1990 to 1996 and (b) 1997 to 2002; how many are current; and what proportion were (i) taken up and (ii) upheld by the Parliamentary Commissioner for Administration in those periods.

Angela Eagle: holding answer 19 April 2002
	Complaints are handled initially by the area of the Home Office or by the agency against which the complaint has been made, many of which have their own complaints procedures. Information about the main complaints procedures operating in the Home Office and its agencies is publicised on the internet, including the Home Office main website at www.homeoffice.gov.uk
	Information on the outcome of statutory investigations is set out in the Parliamentary Ombudsman's annual reports, copies of which are available in the Library, and for annual reports from 1997–98 to 2001–02, on the Parliamentary Ombudsman's website at www.ombudsman.org.uk/pca/ document/par01/index.htm.

Mrs. L. Odedra

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when the appeal papers in respect of Mrs. L. Odedra, a constituent, were received by the Appeals Registry at the Home Office; and when they were despatched to the Immigration Appeals Office Authority tribunal ref: ECR/419/00 104792.

Angela Eagle: I understand that my hon. Friend the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (Mr. Bradshaw) will be writing to my hon. Friend about this matter shortly.

Dungavel

Annabelle Ewing: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how the Committee of Visiting at Dungavel was arranged; who was appointed to sit upon the Committee; what criteria are used in deciding who can act as a visitor; and what the total cost was for the conversion of Dungavel from a prison to a detention centre.

Angela Eagle: Applications to be considered for appointment to the Dungavel House Visiting Committee were invited in an advert placed in the local press on 10 August 2001. Eleven individuals were appointed to the committee on 27 March 2002. Successful candidates were selected on the basis of the experience and abilities they could bring to the committee and to ensure a reasonably balanced membership. It is not the practice to publish the names of visiting committee members and we have no plans to change this policy.
	The total cost of converting Dungavel House to an immigration removal centre is expected to be in the region of £3.5 million.

Teachers

Tony Baldry: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many (a) teachers and (b) teaching professionals were awarded work permits for UK recruitment during (a) 2001, (b) 2000 and (c) 1999.

Angela Eagle: Work Permits (UK) do not differentiate between teachers and teaching professionals.
	The numbers of work permits issued for teachers and teaching professionals are:
	
		
			  Number 
		
		
			 1999 696 
			 2000 1,444 
			 2001 5,888

Teachers

Barry Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how the Work Permit Initiative will ensure that agencies observe the requirement to secure contracts of employment for work permit applicants; what checks Work Permits UK will have in place to ensure that a contract of employment exists; and for what reason (a) overseas teachers will require a contract of employment and (b) other agency staff are supplied on a contract-for-services basis.

Angela Eagle: Work Permits (UK) require any employer or agency acting as the employer to sign the "Employer's Declaration" on the work permit application form, which binds them to the criteria of the work permit arrangements. In this way, teacher agencies are treated in the same way as any other United Kingdom employer in ensuring that a contract of employment for the individual is in place.
	Details of employment contracts between an individual and their employer can be requested and checked upon if abuse of the work permit arrangements are suspected.
	A contract of employment is required as an overseas teacher should be afforded the same terms and conditions of employment as those of a resident teacher. Anyone working on a contract-for-services basis is not regarded as being "employed" under the work permit arrangements, rather they are regarded as being "self-employed". For this reason, an agency recruiting an individual who is working solely on a contract-for-services basis would not be granted a work permit.

Immigration

Bill O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the longest time taken has been in the last five years to process an application of a person to remain in the UK indefinitely; and how many cases were outstanding at 22 April 2001.

Angela Eagle: I regret this information is not currently available. We are introducing a Casework Information database which, when fully operational, will enable us to monitor our performance on general immigration casework more effectively.

Immigration

Bill O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list those countries where there are difficulties in obtaining information on internal checks for people applying for indefinite leave to remain in the UK; and if he will make a statement.

Angela Eagle: Checks made on people applying for indefinite leave to remain will depend on the circumstances of the particular case. While the Immigration and Nationality Directorate aims to deal with 70 per cent. of non-asylum applications within three weeks, the need to make further inquiries, including security checks, may affect this. Within that overall target, there are no specific targets for applications which may require security checks, and on security and international relations grounds it would be inappropriate for me to list countries where there are particular difficulties.

Digital Equipment

Tim Yeo: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many digital radios are owned by his Department for use in departmental buildings from which Ministers work; and what the (a) cost and (b) date of purchase of each radio was.

Angela Eagle: holding answer 26 April 2002
	The Home Office has not purchased any digital radios in departmental buildings from which Ministers work.

National Criminal Intelligence Service

Dominic Grieve: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many and what percentage of reports made by accountants, solicitors and financial advisers to NCIS were (a) investigated and (b) led to confiscation, for the most recent convenient period.

Bob Ainsworth: The National Criminal Intelligence Service (NCIS) does not hold statistical information in the format requested. However, it does monitor whether financial disclosures it receives and forwards to law enforcement agencies are of value to those agencies. For the calendar year 2000, NCIS received 18,048 disclosures (in total). Which were all forwarded to law enforcement for action as necessary. (Only 0.42 per cent. and 1.35 per cent. were received in that year from accountants and solicitors respectively). To date NCIS has received feedback in 11,047 cases and in 9,082 (82 per cent.) of these replies the police force or law enforcement agency recorded that the reports had assisted law enforcement efforts.
	Suspicious transaction reports may only form part of a wider investigation that ultimately leads to the arrest and conviction of individuals and the confiscation of assets. Such reports can provide new information and intelligence that may substantially move an investigation forward as well as providing an invaluable insight into the presence or whereabouts of assets for later confiscation. On occasions they may also simply provide confirmation of information already known to the investigators.

PFI/PPPs

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list the (a) private finance initiative and (b) public-private partnership projects which have been delayed.

Angela Eagle: From the best information available of the private finance initiative (PFI) and public-private partnership (PPP) projects entered into by the Home Office, the following projects have experienced delays:
	
		
			 Project PFI/PPP Signed or expected 
		
		
			 Prisons Energy Tranche 2 PFI Signed 
			 Her Majesty's Prison Dovegate PFI Signed 
			 Quantum (Prison Service) PFI Signed 
			 Medway Secure Training Centre (STC) PFI Signed 
			 Rainsbrook STC PFI Signed 
			 Hassockfield STC PFI Signed 
			 Passport Data Capture PFI Signed 
			 Passport Supply PFI Signed 
			 Airwave (PSRCP) PFI Signed 
			 IT2000 (Sirius programme) PFI Signed 
			 Criminal Records Bureau PPP Signed 
			 Home Office Central London Accommodation Strategy (HOCLAS) PFI Signed 
		
	
	The length of delays for each project varies between six weeks and 24 months. The reasons for the delays are varied. For example, Her Majesty's Prison Dovegate was delayed due to the possibility of a judicial review by a local action group: Hassockfield STC due to planning appeals; changes of strategy from refurbishment of existing buildings to new build in the case of HOCLAS; and problems concluding preferred bidder stage necessitating further negotiation and an invitation to tender for best and final offers on the IT2000 project.

Human Rights Act

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many cases have been brought against his Department under the Human Rights Act 1998; and what has been the cost in (a) legal fees to defend cases and (b) compensation payments.

Angela Eagle: We do not collect central records of all cases in which the Human Rights Act 1998 is relied on. Human rights are now integrated in the general law and are rarely the sole basis for a challenge. We will not always know whether a case has been brought against the Home Office, because the Courts are under no obligation to inform us. It would take a disproportionate amount of time and expense to try to compile such a record, even if cases could always be categorised as "being brought . . . under the Human Rights Act 1998".
	We do not collect separate information centrally about the costs to public funds, legal fees or compensation payments which include a human rights issue. In most cases it will be difficult to single out associated costs relating to the human rights element.

Airwave System

James Paice: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he expects the roll-out of the Airwave system to be completed; what dates were originally given to police forces; what compensation he is seeking from O2 for the delays in roll-out; and what proportion of masts necessary for complete roll-out are (a) completed, (b) being built and (c) awaiting planning consent.

John Denham: The contract for the provision of the Airwave service specifies completion of the roll-out in England and Wales by June 2004, and in Scotland by 2005.
	The delivery dates agreed with individual police forces, known as 'Ready For Service' (RFS) dates, commenced in 2001, and are being rolled-out in England, Wales and Scotland as indicated above.
	As with any large project using leading-edge technology there has been a number of complex technical issues that have had to be resolved as the project has rolled-out. Delays have also been caused by such factors as the foot and mouth epidemic, and obtaining planning permissions for mast sites. MM02 has responded to this by instigating a fundamental review of RFS dates which began in November 2001. This review is still on-going and a full assessment of the position will not be possible until the main results of the review become available.
	The Police Information Technology Organisation (PITO) is currently developing the approach that should be taken to seek appropriate remedies from MM02, and will begin consultations with police forces shortly.
	The current situation is that 15 per cent. of radio masts have been built, 24 per cent. of sites are awaiting planning permission, 20 per cent. have been identified but not yet submitted for planning permission, and 41 per cent. had yet to be acquired. The number of sites needed to complete the roll-out will depend upon exact police service requirements, topology and local planning considerations.

Asylum Seekers

Phil Willis: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department which languages he plans will be used to educate children detained within asylum centres.

Angela Eagle: I assume that the hon. Member's question relates to educational provision in accommodation centres. The language needs of the children will be taken into account in the way that their education is provided including, where necessary, through the provision of interpreter support.
	Asylum seekers will not be detained in accommodation centres.

Asylum Seekers

Paul Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department 
	(1)  what his estimate is of the numbers of asylum seekers from Slovakia who have entered the UK in each of the past five years; and what percentage of them were subsequently found to have valid reasons for seeking asylum;
	(2)  how many asylum seekers from (a) Romania and (b) the Czech Republic have entered the UK in each of the past five years; and what percentage of them were subsequently found to have valid reasons for seeking asylum.

Angela Eagle: I regret that reliable information on the entry routes of asylum seekers, including when asylum seekers first enter the United Kingdom is not available. However the number of asylum applications received between 1997 and 2001 from nationals of Romania, the Czech Republic and Slovakia is given in the tables.
	Information on the initial decisions made in this period is also given, though these initial decisions do not all relate to applications made in the same period.
	
		
			  1997 1998 1999 2000(8) 2001(8) 
		
		
			 Romania  
			 Applications received(9) 605 1,015 1,985 2,160 1,425 
			 Total initial decisions(10) 645 1,160 440 2,800 2,125 
			 Cases considered under normal procedures(11):  
			 Number of cases 645 1,160 350 2,725 2,125 
			 Granted asylum (percentage) 0 0 1 1 0 
			 Granted ELR (percentage) 1 0 0 1 3 
			 Refused (percentage) 98 100 99 99 97 
			 Backlog clearance exercise(12):  
			 Number of cases — — 95 75 — 
			 Granted asylum or ELR under background criteria (percentage) 0 0 50 63 0 
			 Refused under backlog criteria (percentage) 0 0 50 37 0 
			   
			 Czech Republic  
			 Applications received(9) 240 515 1,790 1,200 930 
			 Total initial decisions(10) 210 180 275 1,800 855 
			 Cases considered under normal procedures(11):  
			 Number of cases 210 180 275 1,800 855 
			 Granted asylum (percentage) 0 0 0 1 0 
			 Granted ELR (percentage) 0 0 0 1 0 
			 Refused (percentage) 100 100 100 99 100 
			 Backlog clearance exercise(12):  
			 Number of cases — — (13)— (13)— — 
			 Granted asylum or ELR under background criteria (percentage) 0 0 100 100 0 
			 Refused under backlog criteria (per cent.) 0 0 0 0 0 
			 Slovakia(14)  
			 Applications received(9) 290 835 70 55 60 
			 Total initial decisions(10) 375 335 160 220 85 
			 Cases considered under normal procedures(11):  
			 Number of cases 375 335 160 220 85 
			 Granted asylum (percentage) 0 0 5 5 1 
			 Granted ELR (percentage) 0 0 1 1 1 
			 Refused (percentage) 100 100 93 93 98 
			 Backlog clearance exercise(12):  
			 Number of cases — — (13)— (13)— — 
			 Granted asylum or ELR under background criteria (percentage) 0 0 100 100 0 
			 Refused under backlog criteria (percentage) 0 0 0 0 0 
		
	
	(8) Figures for 2000 and 2001 are provisional and subject to change.
	(9) May exclude some cases lodged at local enforcement offices between January 1999 and March 2000.
	(10) Information is of initial decision, excluding the outcome of appeals or other subsequent decisions.
	(11) Cases considered under normal procedures may include some cases decided under the backlog criteria.
	(12) Cases decided under measures aimed at reducing the pre-1996 asylum application backlog.
	(13) 1 or 2 cases.
	(14) Data prior to 1999 for Slovakia refer to the Slovak Republic.
	Notes:
	1. Figures rounded to the nearest 5.
	2. Decision figures do not necessarily relate to applications received in the same period.
	3. Percentages for cases considered under normal procedures and those within the backlog clearance exercise are calculated separately.
	4. Includes some cases where the application has been refused on substantive grounds.
	Information on applications and initial decisions is published quarterly. The next publication will cover the period up to March 2002, and will be available from 30 May 2002 on the Home Office research development and statistics directorate website at http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/ immigration1.html.

Asylum Seekers

Humfrey Malins: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many asylum seekers he estimates will pass through asylum induction centres in each year; what estimate he has made of the costs of introducing the centres; and if he will make a statement.

Angela Eagle: holding answer 2 May 2002
	Eventually all asylum seekers will pass through induction centres. Those seeking National Asylum Support Service accommodation will remain in the induction centre for approximately seven days; whereas those seeking NASS financial support only or no NASS support at all, will remain in the centre for approximately one day—this may, in some cases, involve an overnight stay.
	It is envisaged those asylum seekers who are to be housed in accommodation centres in the future, will remain in the induction centre for around two days, while appropriate arrangements are made for their transfer.
	The cost of introducing induction centres has been kept to a minimum. The Dover induction centre required additional funding for a small number of staff, (and related resources, such as information technology), within migrant helpline to deliver the more comprehensive detailed briefing. In addition a local team of staff has been created, by means of local recruitment and the introduction of a NASS office in the area, (the site of which is yet to be finalised). The introduction of induction centres will negate the need to use expensive bed and breakfast type housing on an emergency basis.
	The establishment of the induction centre in Dover has assisted in a faster dispersal of asylum-seekers to NASS accommodation throughout the country, despite the fluctuating numbers arriving there; and the streamlining of Immigration Nationality Directorate processes. This has assisted in delivering a more cost effective front-end process.
	Further induction centres in outer London, such as the Heathrow and Gatwick areas will follow. These centres will, of course, replace a significant amount of emergency accommodation currently used to house NASS applicants in inner London. In addition, a number of smaller centres within the regions will be established. Again the opening of such centres will be closely linked to the present use of emergency accommodation in related areas and the possibility of regionalising some of the work carried out by NASS staff.

Asylum Seekers

Andrew Turner: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what right asylum seekers have to nominate their own (a) psychiatrist and (b) psychologist for the production of reports on their suitability for deportation; how many have done so in the last 12 months; and in how many cases people have been found to be psychologically unsuitable for deportation.

Angela Eagle: holding answer 2 May 2002
	It is open to anyone facing removal from the United Kingdom under the Immigration Acts to make representations against that decision, and they may submit whatever evidence, including medical evidence, they consider necessary in support of those representations. Where medical evidence is submitted, the Immigration and Nationality Directorate may seek a second opinion.
	Information about numbers of cases where psychiatric or psychological reports have been submitted and the outcomes of such cases is not collected centrally.

Asylum Seekers

Jenny Tonge: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what plans he has to provide financial assistance to students waiting for their asylum applications to be processed towards their monthly train fare to Gatwick to report to the authorities.

Angela Eagle: The current immigration legislation does not provide a power to enable the Home Office to reimburse the costs of travel for those required to report to a police or immigration officer. The Nationality Immigration and Asylum Bill provides a power which, if introduced, will mean that the Secretary of State may meet the reasonable travelling costs of those required to report.

Asylum Seekers

Humfrey Malins: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many asylum seekers are being held in Prison Service accommodation; and if he will make a statement.

Angela Eagle: holding answer 2 May 2002
	I refer the hon. Member for Woking to the answer I gave him on 30 March 2002, Official Report, column 410W. Information on Immigration Act detainees as at 30 March 2002 will be published on 30 May 2002 on the Home Office Research, Development and Statistics Directorate website at http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/immigration1.html.

Asylum Seekers

Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many asylum applicants have been refused (a) asylum and (b) exceptional leave to remain in each of the last two years; and what proportion of them subsequently appealed.

Angela Eagle: holding answer 30 April 2002
	Information on the outcome of initial decisions made on asylum applications in the United Kingdom during the last two years is given in the table.
	
		Initial decisions made on applications for asylum in the UK, 2000 and 2001(15), principal applicants only
		
			  2000 2001 
		
		
			 Total initial decisions 109,205 118,195 
			
			 Cases considered under normal procedures(16):   
			 Granted asylum 10,375 10,960 
			 Granted ELR(17) 11,495 19,510 
			 Refused asylum or ELR(17) 75,680 87,825 
			
			 Backlog clearance exercise(18):   
			 Granted asylum or ELR under backlog criteria 10,325 — 
			 Refused under backlog criteria(19) 1,335 — 
		
	
	(15) Provisional figures are rounded to the nearest 5, and exlude dependants.
	(16) Cases considered under normal procedures may include some cases decided under the backlog criteria.
	(17) ELR = Exceptional Leave to Remain.
	(18) Cases decided under measures aimed at reducing the pre-1996 asylum applications backlog.
	(19) Includes some cases where the application has been refused on substantive grounds.
	Our latest estimate is that 50–60 per cent. of those principal applicants who were refused asylum and exceptional leave to remain in 2000 subsequently lodged an appeal. An estimate for 2001 will be published in the forthcoming annual Home Office bulletin 'Asylum Statistics 2001'.
	Information on initial decisions and appeals is also published quarterly. The next publication will cover the period up to March 2002, and will be available from 30 May 2002 on the Home Office Research Development and Statistics Directorate website at http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/immigration1.html.

Asylum Seekers

Lynne Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether accommodation centres for asylum seekers will be located in cluster areas where they are currently being accommodated through the NASS.

Angela Eagle: I refer my hon. Friend to the reply I gave to the hon. Member for Mid-Worcestershire (Mr. Luff) on 11 February 2002, Official Report, column 57W.

Magistrates

Caroline Flint: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on proposals to extend sentencing powers of magistrates.

Elfyn Llwyd: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what representations he has received on the proposal to increase the sentencing power of magistrates courts; and if he will make a statement.

Keith Bradley: holding answers 30 April 2002
	In the course of consultation on the Auld report on the criminal courts, many organisations and individuals who commented on the proposed intermediate tier and abolition of the right to elect suggested that an increase in magistrates sentencing powers might serve as an alternative means of reducing the burden on the Crown court. Similar views were expressed during consultation following the Halliday report on sentencing, particularly in response to the proposed sentence of custody plus, as when imposed in full this sentence would be outside magistrates current powers.

National Asylum Support Service

Lynne Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to his answer of 23 January 2002, Official Report, column 938W, what was the total value of payments from the National Asylum Support Service to the reception assistant agencies in respect of the provision of one-stop shop advice services in (a) 2000–01 and (b) 2001–02; and what is the planned value of such payments in 2002–03.

Angela Eagle: The total value of payments made by the National Asylum Support Service (NASS) to voluntary sector organisations in respect of reception assistants and one stop services is as follows for the following years (a) 2000–01 was £18.3 million and (b) 2001–02 £19.2 million. The planned value of payments for 2002–03 is £18 million. All figures are rounded to the nearest £0.1 million.

National Asylum Support Service

Lynne Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to his answer of 23 January 2002, Official Report, column 938W, what was the total value of payments from the National Asylum Support Service to the reception assistant agencies in respect of the provision of emergency accommodation in (a) 2000–01 and (b) 2001–02; and what is the planned value of such payments in 2002–03.

Angela Eagle: The total value of payments made by the National Asylum Support Service (NASS) to reception assistants for (a) 2000–01 was £27.5 million and (b) 2001–02 £70 million. The planned value of payments for 2002–03 is £50 million. All figures are rounded to the nearest £0.1 million.

National Asylum Support Service

Lynne Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make it the practice of the National Asylum Support Service to issue an acknowledgement of correspondence received from (a) supported asylum seekers and (b) representatives of supported asylum seekers.

Angela Eagle: The time within which the National Asylum Support Service responds to requests from (a) supported asylum seekers and (b) representatives of supported persons is considered to be sufficiently fast not to warrant introducing a system of routine acknowledgements of correspondence received.

Asylum Accommodation Centres

Peter Luff: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department who determined the criteria for the selection of proposed sites for asylum accommodation centres.

Angela Eagle: The criteria for proposed site selection was determined by the Home Office and was outlined in the reply I gave to the hon. Member on 7 February 2002, Official Report, column 1134W.

Asylum Accommodation Centres

Peter Luff: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when his Department will send written details to (a) Wychavon district council and (b) Worcestershire county council on the proposed asylum accommodation centre at Throckmorton.

Angela Eagle: holding answer 12 March 2002
	I apologise for the delay in answering this question, caused by an administrative oversight in my Department. We will make an announcement in the proposed use of the site shortly.

Asylum Accommodation Centres

Peter Luff: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment he has made of the merits of locating asylum accommodation centres in (a) rural, (b) suburban and (c) urban sites; what discussions he has had with EU counterparts on the location of asylum accommodation centres; and if he will make a statement.

Angela Eagle: Our policy is to site accommodation centres in non-urban areas in order to reduce the overall burden placed upon local services in urban areas. Each potential accommodation centre site will be assessed on its merits. We have not discussed the location of United Kingdom asylum accommodation centres with our European Union counterparts, but we are drawing on the European experience as we develop our plans.

Asylum Accommodation Centres

Peter Luff: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how asylum seekers who have resided at asylum accommodation centres and are accepted for permanent settlement will be allocated permanent addresses in the United Kingdom; and if he will make a statement.

Angela Eagle: Any asylum seeker who is granted refugee status has the freedom to live wherever he or she wishes in the United Kingdom, in the same way as somebody already resident here. The Government will explore with local authorities and others options for those leaving accommodation centres with positive decisions and subsequent integration into United Kingdom society.

Asylum Accommodation Centres

Peter Luff: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what his most recent assessment is of the implications for local emergency services of the establishment of asylum accommodation centres in their service areas; and if he will make a statement.

Angela Eagle: I refer the hon. Member to my reply of 5 February 2002, Official Report, column 880W.

Deportations (Zimbabwe)

Chris Mullin: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what his policy is on the deportation of failed asylum seekers to Zimbabwe; and if he will make a statement.

Angela Eagle: On 15 January 2002, we announced a temporary suspension of returns of unsuccessful asylum applicants to Zimbabwe. We will resume returns only when we are satisfied that it is safe to do so, and not before. We are monitoring events in the aftermath of the Zimbabwe presidential election in close liaison with the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO). There is no set time scale, but it would be unrealistic to be able to make any decision on a resumption of removals until the immediate post-election situation has calmed down and we have had time to assess properly the risks to returnees and gather and consider the views of FCO and others.

Correspondence

Alex Salmond: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he will reply to the letter dated 12 March from the hon. Member for Banff and Buchan, regarding his constituent Mr. J Morrison of Rosehearty.

Angela Eagle: The correspondence was transferred to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and a reply to the hon. Member was despatched from the Joint Entry Clearance Unit on 25 April 2002.

Correspondence

Andrew Turner: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he will reply to the question from the hon. Member for Isle of Wight of 1 March, Ref 39915.

Angela Eagle: I have replied to the hon. Member's question today. I apologise for the delay in responding.

Child Asylum Seekers

Kevin McNamara: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what percentage of child asylum seekers, broken down by (a) those seeking asylum with an adult and (b) those unaccompanied were from each country in each year since 1995.

Angela Eagle: holding answer 7 May 2002
	The table shows the number of unaccompanied children who have made an asylum application in the period January 1995 to August 2001, inclusive.
	I regret that reliable information on the number of children who have applied for asylum in the United Kingdom, accompanied by an adult, is not readily available and could be obtained only by examination of individual case records and is, therefore, available only at disproportionate cost.
	Information on unaccompanied minors is published annually in the statistical bulletin "Asylum Statistics United Kingdom", a copy of which is available in the Library, and from the research development and statistics website: http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/immigration1.html.
	
		Unaccompanied(20),(21),(22) children, aged 17 or under, applying for asylum in the United Kingdom, by nationality, 1995 to 2001 -- Number of principal applicants
		
			 Nationality 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000(23) 2001(23),(24) 
		
		
			 Europe
			 Albania 6 14 39 49 126 94 46 
			 Czech Republic — — 2 6 29 18 22 
			 FRY — — 119 1,529 1,522 666 312 
			 Poland 5 15 18 44 47 13 20 
			 Romania 9 13 32 68 86 40 33 
			 Russia — — 2 2 3 2 2 
			 Turkey 41 71 48 107 116 153 75 
			 Ukraine — — — 2 1 4 1 
			 Other former USSR 8 2 10 36 26 24 22 
			 Other former Yugoslavia 14 50 107 24 32 36 100 
			 Other 5 12 30 9 8 3 — 
			 Total 88 177 407 1,876 1,996 1,053 633 
			 
			 Americas
			 Colombia 6 14 26 9 18 5 4 
			 Ecuador 2 5 4 5 13 7 — 
			 Other 1 1 1 6 9 4 6 
			 Total 9 20 31 20 40 16 10 
			 
			 Africa
			 Algeria — 2 21 50 12 23 12 
			 Angola 17 10 12 10 42 102 101 
			 Dem Republic Congo 21 15 27 19 33 47 43 
			 Ethiopia 52 21 23 66 54 62 79 
			 Gambia 20 — — — — — 1 
			 Ghana 8 7 1 2 1 10 2 
			 Kenya 19 31 9 23 12 8 8 
			 Nigeria 24 15 18 53 45 24 26 
			 Rwanda 2 1 7 13 35 49 20 
			 Sierra Leone 6 3 14 23 65 74 88 
			 Somalia 71 68 158 153 189 177 132 
			 Sudan 1 — 3 4 6 9 5 
			 Tanzania 48 10 1 3 1 3 1 
			 Uganda 10 6 5 9 10 26 22 
			 Zimbabwe 2 — — — 6 34 21 
			 Other 34 41 65 107 121 151 453 
			 Total 335 230 364 535 632 799 677 
			 
			 Middle East
			 Iran 3 2 7 8 14 65 20 
			 Iraq 12 16 20 30 58 112 125 
			 Other 1 5 5 7 16 14 16 
			 Total 16 23 32 45 88 191 161 
			 
			 Asia
			 Afghanistan 50 48 109 124 213 300 563 
			 Bangladesh 5 3 3 2 4 4 8 
			 China 26 56 78 301 166 117 72 
			 India 8 14 6 9 13 14 12 
			 Pakistan 3 7 4 12 19 25 17 
			 Sri Lanka 53 40 40 91 127 170 116 
			 Other — 2 6 10 10 25 51 
			 Total 145 170 246 549 552 655 839 
			 
			 Other, and nationality not known 4 11 22 12 41 19 23 
			 
			 Grand total 597 631 1,102 3,037 3,349 2,733 2,343 
		
	
	(20) Unaccompanied at the point of their arrival, and not known to be joining a close relative in the United Kingdom.
	(21) May exclude some cases lodged at Local Enforcement Offices between January 1999 and March 2000.
	(22) Figures exclude disputed age cases.
	(23) Provisional figures.
	(24) 2001 figures include January to August only. August is the latest month for which data are available.

United Nations Convention on Rights of the Child

Kevin McNamara: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to his answer of 18 April 2002, Official Report, column 1155W, on the UN Convention on Rights of the Child, what measures are in place to inform (a) adult asylum seekers with children and (b) unaccompanied child asylum seekers about the United Nations Convention on Rights of the Child.

Angela Eagle: holding answer 7 May 2002
	Asylum seekers are able to access legal advice to assist them with their applications and this should include information about their rights under international conventions. All unaccompanied minors who apply for asylum are referred to the Refugee Council's Panel of Advisers, a non- statutory body which acts as adviser to the child in his or her dealings with the Home Office and other agencies for the duration of the asylum claim.

Criminal Case Review Commission

Kevin McNamara: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what fees and expenses are available for full and part-time members of the Criminal Case Review Commission panellists; and what the median annual income from public funds of Criminal Case Review Commission full and part-time panellists is.

Keith Bradley: Details of salary and emoluments of all commission members are published in the commission's annual report, a copy of which is lodged in the Library.

Criminal Case Review Commission

Kevin McNamara: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what consideration was given by the Criminal Case Review Commission to the prioritisation of the allegation of miscarriage of justice brought by Mr. Robert Brown; on what date the case papers of Mr. Brown were received by the Criminal Case Review Commission; on what date a caseworker was allocated to his case; on what date the caseworker's report was completed; on what date Mr. Brown was informed of a pending hearing before a three-person panel of the Criminal Case Review Commission; what date is planned for a panel hearing; on what date the Criminal Case Review Commission were informed of the health of Mr. Brown's mother; if compassionate grounds constitute a factor to be taken into account by the Criminal Case Review Commission in progressing a case; and how many of the proposed panel members are retained on a part-time basis by the Criminal Case Review Commission.

Keith Bradley: Mr. Brown's application was received by the Criminal Case Review Commission on 2 October 1997. It was routinely allocated to a case review manager on 21 October 1999. It remains under review. The progress of cases is as expeditious as possible taking into account the factors of individual cases. The Commission does not publicly release details of its cases or their applicants.

Asylum Induction Centre (Dover)

Humfrey Malins: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when the asylum induction centre in Dover will be fully operational; and if he will make a statement.

Angela Eagle: holding answer 2 May 2002
	Applicants are housed on a full-board basis. Migrant Helpline and the National Asylum Support Service (NASS) provide support services daily leading to dispersal within seven days of arrival. Those who do not seek NASS support are fully briefed about the asylum process in the United Kingdom and an interview is arranged on their behalf.
	Presently health screening is provided through the East Kent health authority, and is funded by the Immigration and Nationality Directorate for a six-month pilot period, at the end of which the process will be evaluated before decisions are taken on the delivery of health screening within induction centres throughout the United Kingdom.

Oakington Detention Centre

Humfrey Malins: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on the future of the Oakington Detention Centre site.

Angela Eagle: holding answer 2 May 2002
	The fast track asylum facility operated at the Oakington Reception Centre is a key element within the Government's overall strategy for processing asylum applicants as speedily as possible. Subject to the outcome of the appeal to the House of Lords, we intend that the fast track process will continue to operate as at present. We fully expect to have the use of the Oakington facility until October 2004 but, in view of the outstanding judicial proceedings, it would be inappropriate to comment further at this stage.

Arranged Marriages

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on the Government's policy towards arranged marriages, with special reference to immigration.

Angela Eagle: There is no policy relating to arranged marriages.

Abu Hamza

Andrew Dismore: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on the suspension of Abu Hamza by the Charity Commission from his position with the charity, the North London Centre Mosque, with special reference to the basis for the Charity Commissioner's action.

Angela Eagle: The decision to suspend Abu Hamza is a matter for the Charity Commission as the Government Department responsible for charities in England and Wales. The Director of Operations at the Charity Commission will write to my hon. Friend and a copy of his reply will be placed in the Library.

Parliamentary Questions

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he will reply to the question from the hon. Member for Epsom and Ewell (Chris Grayling) on the special voucher scheme (ref: 46319).

Angela Eagle: holding answer 2 May 2002
	I replied to the hon. Member's question yesterday, Official Report, column 233W. I apologise for the delay in responding.

Press and Public Relations

Andrew Turner: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the annual budget for communications activities, including press, public relations, marketing and internal communications, was for his Department for each financial year from 1997–98 to 2001–02.

Angela Eagle: The information for the Home Office is as follows:
	
		Communications budgets 1997 to 2002
		
			   1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 
		
		
			 Press office running costs — 1,095,000 1,213,200 1,606,100 1,505,100 
			 Press office programme costs — — — — — 
			 Total — 1,095,000 1,213,200 1,606,100 1,505,100.00 
			   
			 Prison press media running costs — — — 578,100 467,500 
			 Prison press media programme costs — — — — — 
			 Total — — — 578,100 467,500 
			   
			 Marketing running costs — 950,950 986,200 758,300 815,000 
			 Marketing programme costs 4,121,000 7,459,050 11,050,000 32,874,000 25,115,000 
			 Total (25)4,121,000.00 8,410,000 12,036,200 33,632,300 25,930,000 
			   
			 Internal communications unit running costs — — — 692,600 814,500 
			 Internal communications unit programme costs — — — — — 
			 Internal communications ('Inside Track' staff magazine) — — — 125,000 130,000 
			 Total — — — 817,600 944,500 
			   
			 Internal advisers running costs — — — 373,200 480,500 
			 Internal advisers programme costs — — — — — 
			 Total — — — 373,200 480,500 
			 Grand total 4,121,000 9,505,000 13,249,400 36,429,200 28,860,100 
		
	
	(25) The figure for 1997–98 is given as a single total. This was the first year that publicity budgets were devolved to directorates, also at that time all expenditure including running costs were entered under one cost code; therefore a more detailed breakdown is not available.
	As my right hon. Friend the Home Secretary and my right hon. Friend his predecessor (Mr. Straw) have said on a number of occasions, increases in spending on communications activities have largely come about for two reasons. Firstly, the expansion of the Home Office Press Office, which took effect in late 2000, was to cope with the widened responsibilities—particularly relating to the Government's reform programme and a significant increase in demand from the media. The second expansion has been on marketing and advertising where a number of substantial and important public information campaigns were mounted—including fire safety, electoral registration, and vehicle crime reduction and, more recently, the continuing highly effective police recruitment campaign which has contributed greatly to the achievement of the highest level of police officers.

TREASURY

Budget

Peter Pike: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he has made of the effect on a family with two children on an average income for the north-west as a result of the Budget changes.

Gordon Brown: There are 325,000 families with children in the north-east and 880,000 in the north-west. Around 90 per cent. of these families will be eligible for the child tax credit from April 2003, which together with child benefit will deliver up to £54.25 a week in support for the first child, compared with £27.70 a week in April 1997.
	A single-earner family on median earnings of £21,400 and with two children will gain by £3.90 a week as a result of the personal tax and benefit measures announced in the Budget.

Budget

Louise Ellman: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how much additional support the Budget will provide to families with children in financial year 2002–03.

Dawn Primarolo: An additional £500 million of support will be available for families with children in 2002–03. This includes the costs of a £2.50 per week above-inflation increase in working families' tax credit rates from June 2002 and a £3.50 per week above- inflation increase in the child allowances in income support and jobseeker's allowance from October 2002.

Budget

Andrew MacKinlay: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he has made of the number of people in Thurrock who will be affected by his Budget proposals aimed at relieving poverty.

Paul Boateng: There are 14,000 families with children in Thurrock. Nationally, around 90 per cent. of families will be eligible for the child tax credit, which together with child benefit will deliver up to £54.25 a week in support for the first child from April 2003.
	There are 17,000 people in Thurrock benefiting from the increase in the winter fuel payment to £200 and 15,000 will benefit from the guaranteed increases in the basic state pension. Nationally, up to half of all pensioner households will be eligible for the pension credit from October 2003.

National Insurance Contributions

James Clappison: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what recent representations he has received about the burden of national insurance contributions on business.

Andrew Smith: In the run up to the Budget statement the Government received a number of representations from business organisations.

National Insurance Contributions

Anthony Steen: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what cost compliance estimate was made of the effects on business of changes in national insurance contributions announced in the Budget.

Andrew Smith: I refer the hon. Member to the Inland Revenue's Regulatory Impact Assessment for the National Insurance Contributions Bill. A copy was placed in the Library on 1 May.

National Insurance Contributions

John Baron: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what recent discussions he has had with the Federation of Small Businesses regarding the increase in employers' national insurance contributions announced in the 2002 Budget.

Dawn Primarolo: Ministers and civil servants have meetings with a wide range of organisations and individuals as part of the process of policy development and analysis. As with previous Administrations it is not this Government's practice to provide details of all such meetings. All such contacts are conducted in accordance with the Ministerial Code, the Civil Service Code and Guidance for Civil Servants: Contacts with Lobbyists.

National Insurance Contributions

Peter Duncan: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he has made of the cash-flow implications to businesses of the increase in employers' national insurance contributions announced in the 2002 Budget.

Andrew Smith: Most businesses in the UK are small, and the average small business employs around five employees. For a typical employer of this size, the increase in employers' NICs is around £835 a year.

National Insurance Contributions

Matthew Green: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he has made of the impact of the proposed change in employers' national insurance contributions on manufacturing company profitability for financial year 2003–04.

Andrew Smith: It is estimated that the changes to employers' national insurance contributions announced in the Budget will increase pay costs on average across the economy by 0.7 per cent. next year. Employers will benefit from the impact of the investment in the health service on the health of their employees.

National Insurance Contributions

John Taylor: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will make a statement on the cost to the public sector of the change in employers' national insurance contributions announced in the Budget in 2003–04.

Charles Hendry: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will make a statement on the cost to the public sector of the change in employers' national insurance contributions announced in the Budget in 2003–04.

Andrew Smith: The cost to the public services will be just over £1 billion which compares with a planned rise in spending on public services of nearly £20 billion. The changes will help to fund improvements to public services and a real terms increase in spending on health over the next five years of over 40 per cent.

Road Haulage Industry

Bill O'Brien: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what representations he has received from the Road Haulage Association on the impact of Budget measures on the road haulage industry; and if he will make a statement.

Paul Boateng: Since the Budget, I have chaired a meeting in the Treasury to outline further details about how the Government intend to implement their manifesto commitment to "ensure that hauliers from overseas pay their fair share towards the costs of our roads".
	The Road Haulage Association has welcomed the Budget and the Government's proposals to modernise the taxation of the haulage industry, describing them positively as a revolution gathering momentum. The Road Haulage Association's chief executive, a former Member of the House for the party opposite, has even said that this policy could make 2002 the most important year since denationalisation—and perhaps ever.

Wanless Report

James Gray: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer when he will next meet Mr. Wanless to discuss the contents of the final Wanless report.

Andrew Smith: Derek Wanless formally submitted his final report to the Chancellor on 15 April. No further meetings between Mr. Wanless and the Chancellor are currently planned.

Pensioner Income

Helen Jackson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assessment he has made of the impact of the Budget on pensioner income.

Ruth Kelly: The average pensioner household will be £7.75 per week, or around £400 per year, better off due to the Government's personal tax and benefit changes announced in the latest Budget round.

Pensioner Income

John Robertson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will make a statement on measures to raise the standard of living of the poorest pensioners.

Ruth Kelly: The Government are committed to tackling pensioner poverty; helping those in greatest need. The Government introduced the minimum income guarantee and is committed to raising it in line with earnings throughout this Parliament. From 2003, the pension credit will enable those with a modest amount of second pension or savings to gain on average just over £400 a year.

Pensions

Mark Todd: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will make a statement on recent fiscal measures he has taken to encourage pension provision.

Dawn Primarolo: The Government are introducing pension credit from 2003, at a cost of £2 billion in the first full year. The pension credit will reward those pensioners who have modest incomes from second pensions or savings. In addition from 2003–04 the age-related personal tax allowances will be increased to ensure that no pensioner aged 65 or over will pay tax on income of less than £127 a week.

Debt Relief

Doug Naysmith: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what progress he has made in persuading other countries to follow his December 2000 pledge on debt cancellations.

Paul Boateng: The UK Government continue to press other countries to follow the UK's example and to hold in trust any debt payment received from HIPC countries prior to decision point. However, among other considerations, legal constraints make this difficult for many countries. To date only Canada has introduced a similar policy.

Debt Relief

Julia Drown: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how he will ensure that debt relief for developing countries (a) inside and (b) outside the HIPC initiative is accelerated to levels required to meet international development targets.

Paul Boateng: The Government continue to press for rapid implementation of the HIPC debt relief initiative. At the IMF/World bank spring meetings we secured agreement that there needed to be a full review of HIPC for consideration at the annual meetings in October. This review will ensure that all countries in the HIPC initiative achieve sustainable levels of debt. Already countries are receiving debt relief worth $1.7 billion in 2001–02 which is being used to increase spending on education, health and other key poverty reducing areas.
	The benefits of the HIPC initiative remain open to all poor countries that are heavily indebted. However it is clear that many poor countries that have only moderate levels of indebtedness none the less need additional finance if they are to achieve the millennium development goals. For this reason the Government have welcomed the recent commitments by the US and the EU to increase their aid effort by $12 billion per annum.

Debt Relief

Alan Simpson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the average number of conditionality terms attached to agreements in the Debt Relief programme undertaken by the World Bank and IMF has been to date, broken down by country.

Paul Boateng: Under the HIPC framework countries must demonstrate their commitment towards poverty reduction prior to qualifying for debt relief. They do this by developing a national poverty reduction strategy and following sound macroeconomic policy. Upon reaching decision point, countries start receiving interim relief and continue to develop their full poverty reduction strategy. Most countries will have implemented their poverty reduction strategy for a year prior to exiting the HIPC framework. The average number of conditions is 12 where 60 per cent. of the conditions are attached to poverty, including health and education, while 24 per cent. are on governance and financial transparency.

World Poverty

Tony Cunningham: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will make a statement on progress in international efforts to relieve world poverty.

Paul Boateng: There has been positive progress made recently. In March, the United Nations conference on financing for development held in Monterrey helped to mobilise substantial increased aid commitments
	In March EU member states agreed to increase their aid volumes in the next four years so that collectively an EU average of 0.39 per cent. of national income is reached by 2006—a seven billion dollar a year increase in aid from 2006, and potentially cumulatively 20 billion dollars before then.
	Furthermore, the United States has committed to increasing its aid by five billion dollars a year from 2006—a 50 per cent. increase in the US aid budget.
	The Monterrey Consensus—which sets out a balanced agenda of partnership and mutual accountability—was formally adopted by UN members; particularly welcome are the emphasis to good governance and the rule of law.
	The recent spring meetings on the IMF and World bank discussed progress made at Monterrey, and both institutions have given their full support. Aid increases and a global agreed agenda set out in the Monterrey consensus, will help provide a stronger international foundation on which to relieve world poverty.

Combating Crime

Nick Palmer: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will ensure that sufficient funds in the comprehensive spending review are allocated for combating the causes of crime.

Andrew Smith: Announcements about budgets for all Departments will be made at the conclusion of the 2002 spending review.

Health Inequalities

Derek Twigg: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he has made of the impact the Budget will have on reducing health inequalities over the next five to 10 years.

Andrew Smith: Key measures in Budget 2002 that will contribute to meeting the Government's targets on health inequalities are:
	new child tax credit (CTC), which is a single, seamless system of support for families with children. From April 2003 CTC will combine with child benefit to deliver up to £54.25 a week in support for the first child, compared to support of £27.70 a week in April.
	specific help for people with disabilities (including long-standing illnesses) looking for work: the new deal for disabled people has now been extended nationally, and the rates and thresholds of the working tax credit will, from April 2003, improve the in-work financial support available specifically for disabled people.
	extra resources announced in Budget 2002 for the NHS—average growth in NHS spending of 7.4 per cent. after inflation over the five years from 2003–04 to 2007–08—will enable the NHS to play its full role in meeting the existing national targets for tackling health inequalities.

Renewable Energy

Ian Lucas: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assessment he made of the needs of manufacturers of renewable energy equipment when preparing his Budget.

Paul Boateng: The Chancellor considers a wide range of representations when preparing his Budget. The Budget announced that solar water heating systems will be eligible for enhanced capital allowances, while most forms of renewable energy are exempt from the climate change levy. The Government are also providing direct support for renewable energy worth over £260 million between 2001 and 2004, and renewable energy is also supported through the renewables obligation, which requires all electricity suppliers to source a minimum percentage of their electricity from renewable sources.

Aggregates Levy

Alistair Carmichael: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will make a statement on the operation of the aggregates levy.

Paul Boateng: The levy came into effect on 1 April 2002.
	488 businesses have registered for and are operating the levy.

Stamp Duty

Hugh Robertson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will make a statement on the level of stamp duty on commercial property transactions.

Ruth Kelly: Stamp duty on property currently raises around £4 billion per annum, about 40 per cent. of which derives from commercial transactions. We regularly review the impact of stamp duty on all aspects of the commercial market.
	My right hon. Friend the Chancellor confirmed in the Budget his intention to lift the cap on stamp duty relief for non-residential property transactions in disadvantaged areas, subject to state aids approval, giving a boost to commercial development in these areas.

Halifax (Ombudsman's Ruling)

Barry Gardiner: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will ask the Financial Services Authority to issue a formal statement on (a) how the Halifax has handled the dual variable rate mortgage issue since the Ombudsman made his ruling and (b) what steps consumers should take to claim compensation.

Ruth Kelly: It is for the FSA to take any action it deems appropriate as part of its on-going supervision of banks. The FSA has already published a guide to making a complaint and this is available free from its help desk (0845 606 1234).

Tax Credits

Lynne Jones: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the take-up rate is of each of the tax credits.

Dawn Primarolo: I refer my hon. Friend to my answer to my hon. Friend the Member for Newcastle upon Tyne Central (Mr. Cousins) on 24 April 2002, Official Report, column 336W.

Community Investment Tax Credit

Joan Walley: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will make a statement on his timetable in respect of the introduction of the community investment tax credit.

Paul Boateng: We will bring forward legislation for the community investment tax credit in the Finance Bill. Organisations will then be able to apply for tax credit status during 2002–03, subject to State Aids approval for the measure.

Film Tax Relief

John Barrett: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he has made of the cost of film tax relief in 2004–05 after the Budget 2002 measures have been implemented.

Andrew Smith: It is estimated that the gross amount of relief given under section 48 Finance (No.2) Act 1997 given in 2004–05 will be £320 million. When compared with tax relief that would be available in the absence of section 48 reliefs the net tax cost is £70 million. The net tax cost of other film tax reliefs in that year is estimated at a further £70 million. The decision in Budget 2002 to restrict eligibility to British feature films intended for cinema release will reduce the amount of relief in 2004–05 by £295 million.

Family Income (South-west)

Jim Knight: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he has made of the number of people in the south-west who will be affected by his measures to support lower and middle income families.

Dawn Primarolo: There are 575,000 families with children in the south-west. Around 90 per cent. of these families will be eligible for the child tax credit, which together with child benefit will deliver up to £54.25 in support for the first child from April 2003. There are currently 105,000 families with children in the south-west benefiting from the working families' tax credit.

Landfill Tax

Sue Doughty: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the total cost to the Treasury will be (a) at the outset of its introduction and (b) projected in the next three years of the landfill tax.

Paul Boateng: The landfill tax was introduced on 1 October 1996 and raised £0.4 billion in its first full year. The projected revenue from the landfill tax was published on 17 April in the Financial Statement and Budget Report 2002. The administrative cost of collecting the landfill tax is less than £2 million per annum.

Smuggling

Paul Flynn: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what his estimate is of the percentage of (a) alcohol, (b) tobacco and (c) pornographic material that escaped detection and was imported illegally into the United Kingdom in each of the past three years.

Paul Boateng: Customs latest figures for the revenue value of detected alcohol and tobacco fraud and smuggling are for 2000–01 and are contained in Customs annual report for that year.
	Customs latest estimates for the revenue loss and illicit market shares arising from all forms of alcohol and tobacco fraud were published in the documents "Tackling Indirect Tax Fraud" and "Measuring Indirect Tax Fraud" at the time of the pre-Budget report in November 2001. They also contain the most recently published figures for Customs cigarette seizures.
	Customs have no estimates of the total amount of pornographic material illegally imported into the UK.

Limited Companies

Howard Flight: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if it is his policy to encourage small firms to become limited companies; and if he will make a statement.

Paul Boateng: Government policy is to stimulate enterprise and entrepreneurship in its various forms, and not to support one group of businesses over another. Both incorporation and non-incorporation offer a range of benefits to small businesses. The choice as to whether to incorporate or not is influenced by multiple factors, many of which are firm-specific, for example the personal circumstances of the owner(s). The Government take the view that businesses themselves are best placed to assess the relative benefits of different legal structures, and to decide which is most appropriate for them.

Development Taxation

Debra Shipley: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what plans he has to equalise taxes levied on brownfield sites with those levied on greenfield sites.

Paul Boateng: The Government introduced a 150 per cent. accelerated payable tax credit in Budget 2001 for owners and investors for the costs they incur in cleaning up contaminated sites. This measure will make the development of these sites more viable. There are no other differences in the tax treatment of brownfield and greenfield sites.

Statutory Instruments

Barbara Follett: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer when proposed drafts of the statutory instruments regarding the working tax credit and the child tax credit will be made available.

Dawn Primarolo: As part of the on-going consultation about the proposed new child tax credit and working tax credit and to inform debate on the Tax Credits Bill, copies of a number of draft statutory instruments have today been placed in the Libraries of both Houses. A memorandum has been prepared by the Inland Revenue and the Department for Work and Pensions to accompany these drafts, copies of which have also been placed in the Libraries.
	The draft statutory instruments have been prepared by the Inland Revenue and the Department for Work and Pensions. Together they contain proposals for the definition of income for the purposes of the new tax credits, detailed rules about entitlement to those credits and their proposed structure, and the arrangements for paying the credits to claimants. They also set out proposed changes to social security legislation in consequence of the introduction of the new credits.
	Drafts of further statutory instruments will be made available in due course.

Correspondence

Alex Salmond: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer when he will reply to the letter dated 1 April from the hon. Member for Banff and Buchan regarding the Royal Scottish Geographical Society.

Paul Boateng: I did so on 30 April and am sending a copy of my letter to the hon. Member.

HEALTH

"Information for Health"

Evan Harris: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to his answer to the hon. Member for South Derbyshire (Mr. Todd) on 11 March 2002, Official Report, column 806W, if he will publish the report commissioned from Professor Protti by the Information Policy Unit and the NHS Information Authority on issues of implementing "Information for Health".

John Hutton: The report from Professor Protti is still under consideration. It is informing the preparation of the delivery plan for information and information technology that the Department is preparing as part of taking forward "Delivering the NHS Plan", published in April 2002. Professor Protti's report will be published later in the year.

Emergency Care

John Cummings: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what cash allocations have been made under the reforming emergency care accident and emergency nurse allocation for 2002–03 to each acute NHS trust in the northern region; upon what basis the allocations have been made; and which trusts are involved in PFI programmes.

John Hutton: I refer my hon. Friend to the reply I gave him on 29 April 2002, Official Report, column 622W.

Performance Assessment Framework

Liam Fox: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how the Performance Assessment Framework assimilates patients' views on (a) food and (b) other issues.

Jacqui Smith: The Performance Assessment Framework is based on a balanced scorecard, which allows organisations to get a rounded view of performance. The framework highlights a number of areas of performance, including patient/carer experience.
	The framework is supported by a set of national NHS performance indicators. The indicators published in February 2002 included a number of measures of patient/carer experience, including an indicator of hospital cleanliness and information on the handling of complaints. We are currently developing indicators to reflect patients' views, based on comprehensive surveys, initially of acute in-patients, on food and other issues that are of importance to them.

Primary Care

Liam Fox: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much investment in primary care facilities there has been since the publication of the NHS National Plan.

John Hutton: Audited health authority finance returns for the years 1999 to 2001 show that a total of £661 million was spent on general medical services primary care premises in that period. Spend on premises used by personal medical services pilot providers is not identified in these returns.

Private Finance Initiative

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate he has made of the total savings to public funds of the Private Finance Initiative contract for the Fulbourn School of Nursing by comparison with a non-Private Finance Initiative alternative.

John Hutton: The business case justifying the individual schemes estimating the net savings in present value terms (ie all future costs and benefits discounted to their present values) compared with publicly funding the scheme is shown in the table.
	
		Net present costs of PSC v. PFI option
		
			 Trusts Eastern regional office/Fulbourn 
		
		
			 PFI (£000) 14,449 
			 Public (£000) 20,254 
			 Savings in net present value terms (£000) 5,805 
			 Difference (%) 29

Generic Drugs

Adam Price: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  what representations his Department has received from (a) Generics UK, (b) Kent Pharmaceuticals, (c) Regent- GM Laboratories, (d) Goldshield Group, (e) Norton Healthcare and (f) Ranbaxy UK regarding generic drugs in the past five years;
	(2)  what meetings his Department has had with (a) Generics UK, (b) Kent Pharmaceuticals, (c) Regent- GM Laboratories, (d) Goldshield Group, (e) Norton Healthcare and (f) Ranbaxy UK to discuss generic drugs in the past five years.

John Hutton: As part of routine business the Department meets with pharmaceutical industry trade associations and individual pharmaceutical companies including Generics UK Ltd., Kent Pharmaceuticals Ltd., Regent-GM Laboratories Ltd., Goldshield Group Plc, Norton Healthcare Ltd. (a subsidiary of Ivax Corporation) and Ranbaxy (UK) Ltd. (a subsidiary of Ranbaxy Laboratories Ltd.) on a regular basis to discuss a range of issues including those relating to licence applications; product safety issues; leaflets and labelling and intellectual property.
	In April 2000 the Government introduced a maximum price scheme for controlling the price of specified generic medicines. This was rolled forward in October 2001 and has resulted in annual savings in expenditure of generic medicines in the order of £330 million. In addition, in July 2001 the Department issued a consultation paper on proposals for NHS controls over the future supply and pricing of NHS generic medicines. In compliance with best practice these initiatives required that information and opinions be sought from those companies and organisations affected by the Department's initiatives. Accordingly officials met with and received representations from many interested parties, including Generics UK, Kent Pharmaceuticals, Regent-GM Laboratories, Norton Healthcare/Ivax and Ranbaxy UK.

Occupational Therapists

Lembit �pik: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many unfilled vacancies for occupational therapists there are in each health authority in England and Wales; and if he will make a statement.

John Hutton: The number of occupational therapists employed in the NHS increased by 2,390 (20 per cent.) between 1997 and 2001.
	The information requested is shown in the table.
	
		Department of Health Vacancies Survey, March 2001vacancies in NHS trusts by region and health authority areas(26), occupational therapists
		
			   Three month vacancy:  Staff in post:  
			  Rates (percentage) Numbers (wte) (hc) 
		
		
			 England 4.1 480 11,180 13,130 
			  
			 Northern and Yorkshire 4.6 70 1,430 1,640 
			 Bradford HA 7.5 10 120 140 
			 County Durham and Darlington HA 3.6 0 80 90 
			 East Riding and Hull HA 6.7 10 100 110 
			 Gateshead and South Tyneside HA 5.7 10 80 90 
			 Leeds HA 5.0 10 170 200 
			 Newcastle and North Tyneside HA 2.2 0 110 120 
			 North Cumbria HA 6.3 0 60 70 
			 Northumberland HA 6.9 10 90 110 
			 Sunderland HA 0.0 0 40 40 
			 Tees HA 4.2 10 140 150 
			 Wakefield HA 7.5 10 120 130 
			 North Yorkshire HA 1.2 0 160 210 
			 Calderdale and Kirklees HA 2.5 0 150 170 
			  
			 Trent 3.0 40 1,230 1,420 
			 Barnsley HA 6.2 0 50 50 
			 North Derbyshire HA 4.0 0 100 120 
			 Southern Derbyshire HA 0.7 0 140 170 
			 Doncaster HA 8.3 10 90 110 
			 Leicestershire HA 0.0 0 210 240 
			 Lincolnshire HA 4.6 0 80 100 
			 North Nottinghamshire HA 2.5 0 80 90 
			 Nottingham HA 2.1 0 210 240 
			 Rotherham HA 6.6 10 110 120 
			 Sheffield HA 0.0 0 150 170 
			 South Humber HA 13.0 0 20 20 
			  
			 West Midlands 4.1 50 1,090 1,260 
			 Birmingham HA 2.7 10 240 270 
			 Coventry HA 5.3 0 60 70 
			 Dudley HA 4.4 0 70 80 
			 Herefordshire HA 0.7 0 40 50 
			 Sandwell HA 4.1 0 50 50 
			 Shropshire HA 3.0 0 100 120 
			 Solihull HA (27) (27) (27) (27) 
			 North Staffordshire HA 5.5 10 130 150 
			 South Staffordshire HA 5.1 10 90 110 
			 Walsall HA 15.0 10 40 40 
			 Warwickshire HA 5.5 0 80 100 
			 Wolverhampton HA 4.8 0 70 80 
			 Worcestershire HA 0.7 0 120 150 
			  
			 North West 4.8 80 1,470 1,710 
			 South Lancashire HA 2.5 0 70 100 
			 Liverpool HA 0.0 0 70 80 
			 Manchester HA 2.7 10 130 150 
			 Morecambe Bay HA 0.0 0 70 90 
			 St. Helens and Knowsley HA 2.8 0 50 50 
			 Salford and Trafford HA 0.7 0 140 160 
			 Sefton HA 4.4 0 70 70 
			 Stockport HA 0.0 0 50 70 
			 West Pennine HA (28) (28) (28) (28) 
			 Bury and Rochdale HA 5.4 0 50 60 
			 North Cheshire HA 2.7 0 90 100 
			 South Cheshire HA 1.0 0 90 130 
			 East Lancashire HA 4.8 10 100 120 
			 North West Lancashire HA 4.8 10 150 180 
			 Wigan and Bolton HA 3.7 10 130 150 
			 Wirral HA 1.0 0 100 120 
			  
			 Eastern 2.9 30 1,050 1,270 
			 Bedfordshire HA 1.0 0 100 130 
			 North Essex HA 1.4 0 210 250 
			 South Essex HA 2.2 0 130 150 
			 Suffolk HA 0.0 0 130 160 
			 East and North Hertfordshire HA 4.2 0 50 60 
			 West Hertfordshire HA 4.1 0 60 80 
			 Cambridgeshire HA 5.6 10 170 200 
			 Norfolk HA 4.3 10 210 250 
			 London 7.0 130 1,730 1,940 
			 Hillingdon HA 8.7 0 30 30 
			 Kensington, Chelsea and Westminster HA 2.8 0 140 150 
			 Enfield and Haringey HA 0.0 0 120 140 
			 Redbridge and Waltham Forest HA 7.7 10 100 110 
			 Bexley and Greenwich HA 10.7 10 80 100 
			 Bromley HA 9.2 0 20 30 
			 Croydon HA 10.2 0 40 40 
			 Kingston and Richmond HA 0.0 0 60 80 
			 Lambeth, Southwark and Lewisham HA 10.3 30 230 250 
			 Merton, Sutton and Wandsworth HA 4.9 10 200 240 
			 Barking and Havering HA 10.0 10 110 120 
			 Barnet HA (27) (27) (27) (27) 
			 Brent and Harrow HA 12.9 10 70 80 
			 Camden and Islington HA 6.2 10 150 170 
			 Ealing, Hammersmith and Hounslow HA 6.6 10 190 220 
			 East London and The City HA 8.2 20 140 150 
			  
			 South East 3.9 70 1,790 2,190 
			 Berkshire HA 2.5 0 120 150 
			 Buckinghamshire HA 3.4 10 170 230 
			 East Kent HA 1.1 0 170 200 
			 West Kent HA 9.2 20 160 200 
			 East Surrey HA 2.4 0 120 140 
			 West Surrey HA 7.2 10 170 210 
			 East Sussex, Brighton and Hove HA 3.1 10 170 200 
			 West Sussex HA 5.3 10 170 210 
			 Northamptonshire HA 0.5 0 100 130 
			 Oxfordshire HA 5.2 10 150 180 
			 North and Mid Hampshire HA 0.9 0 70 90 
			 Portsmouth and South East Hampshire HA 2.8 0 90 110 
			 Southampton and South West Hampshire HA 0.8 0 120 150 
			 Isle of Wight HA 16.4 0 20 20 
			  
			 South West 1.2 20 1,290 1,590 
			 Somerset HA 0.6 0 100 130 
			 South and West Devon HA 1.9 0 160 180 
			 Wiltshire HA 2.2 0 130 160 
			 Avon HA 2.6 10 280 360 
			 Cornwall and Isles of Scilly HA 0.0 0 90 110 
			 Dorset HA 0.2 0 220 270 
			 North East and Devon HA 0.6 0 160 200 
			 Gloucestershire HA 0.0 0 150 180 
			  
			 Special HAs 3.4 0 100 100 
		
	
	(26) Vacancy and staff in post numbers are rounded to the nearest 10.
	(27) Figures where sum of staff in post and vacancies is less than 10.
	(28) Figures where previously published, where the trusts have advised that the figures supplied were incorrect.
	Notes:
	1. Three month vacancies are vacancies as at 31 March 2001 which trusts are actively trying to fill, which had lasted for three months or more (whole time equivalents).
	2. Three month vacancy rates are three month vacancies expressed as a percentage of three month vacancies plus staff in post from the September 2000 medical and dental and non-medical work force censuses (whole time equivalent).
	3. Percentages are rounded to one decimal place.
	4. Totals may not equal sum of component parts due to rounding.
	5. HA figures are based on trusts, and do not necessarily reflect the geographical provision of health care.
	6. Due to the way vacancy data have been collected it has sometimes been necessary to provide combined vacancy data information for certain trusts.
	7. Due to combined vacancy data being used and rounding calculating the vacancy rates using the above data may not equal the actual vacancy rates.
	8. Figures may not match previously published data due to a different method of rounding used on the staff in post data.

NHS Wages

Ross Cranston: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the average annual increase in NHS wages and salaries has been for (a) doctors, (b) nurses and (c) ancillary staff in each of the last 10 years.

John Hutton: The table sets out the general pay increase for hospital doctors, nurses and ancillary staff in each of the last 10 years. Additional amounts may have been awarded for particular grades or sub-groups of staff in particular years. The figures for nurses and ancillary staff for 199596 and 199697 are estimates as these included an element of local pay.
	
		Percentage 
		
			  Hospital doctors Nurses Ancillary staff 
		
		
			 199394 1.5 1.5 1.5 
			 199495 3.0 3.0 2.39 
			 199596 2.5 3.0 3.0 
			 199697 3.8 2.8 2.8 
			 199798 3.4 3.3 3.3 
			 199899 4.2 3.8 3.8 
			 19992000 3.5 4.7 3.0 
			 200001 3.3 3.4 3.25 
			 200102 3.9 3.7 3.7 
			 200203 3.6 3.6 3.6

Cancer

Liam Fox: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the estimated cost was of treating sun-induced skin cancers in the last year.

Yvette Cooper: The Department does not collect figures on the cost of NHS services in a way that enables an accurate figure to be calculated for the cost of a particular disease.

Cancer

Paul Marsden: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will ask NICE to review its decision on the use of irinotecan and oxaliplatin in treating bowel cancer patients.

John Hutton: I understand that National Institute of Clinical Excellence (NICE) has recommended that irinotecan and oxaliplatin should be used in specific clinical circumstances. We set up NICE to give authoritative guidance on when it is clinically and cost effective to use drugs and other treatments. NICE has undertaken a full appraisal of irinotecan, oxaliplatin and raltitrexed and has also considered an appeal against its initial decision. In the light of this, I do not expect NICE to review its decision except as part of its usual processes. The review will take place in April 2005, or earlier if significant new evidence becomes available.

Missed Appointments

Evan Harris: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what percentage of (a) in-patient and (b) out- patient appointments were missed in each of the last six years.

John Hutton: The number of patients who did not attend consultant out-patient appointments from 199596 to 200001 are shown in the table. Information up to quarter 2 of 200102 is available on the Department's website www.doh.gov.uk/hospitalactivity.
	
		
			  Total out-patient appointments Total attendances Total DNAs Percentage DNAs 
		
		
			 199596 45,578,990 40,117,691 5,461,299 12.0 
			 199697 46,380,294 40,872,769 5,507,525 11.9 
			 199798 47,264,698 41,635,269 5,629,429 11.9 
			 199899 47,803,368 42,154,397 5,648,971 11.8 
			 19992000 48,923,209 43,040,699 5,882,510 12.0 
			 200001 49,524,159 43,569,340 5,954,819 12.0 
		
	
	Note:
	Did Not Attends (DNAs) are counted for those patients who gave no advance warning for their non-attendance.
	Source:
	Department of Health form KH09
	As part of the NHS plan all out-patient appointments will be pre-booked by the end of 2005. Patients will be able to choose a date and time for their appointment that is convenient for them. Booking systems, where introduced, have proven to significantly reduce numbers of patients failing to turn up for appointments.
	The number of patients who did not attend consultant in-patient appointments from 199596 to 200001 is shown in the table.
	
		
			  Patients admitted Patients failed to attend Failed to attend rate (percentage) 
		
		
			 199596 3,500,353 207,515 5.60 
			 199697 3,549,073 223,255 5.82 
			 199899 3,826,507 171,382 4.30 
			 19992000 3,682,180 146,599 3.83 
			 200001 3,467,338 125,860 3.50 
		
	
	Note:
	Data for 199798 is not available
	Source:
	Department for Health form KH06

Consultants' Remuneration

Paul Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what were the percentage changes in (a) consultants' NHS remuneration and (b) total consultants' remuneration in each of the past five years.

John Hutton: Table 1 sets out the general pay increase for consultants in each of the last five years.
	The majority of consultants earn additional money from the national health service for extra duties. The size of this additional income varies by speciality, by age and geographic location. Table 2 shows the increase in total NHS earnings August 1998 and August 2000.
	The Department does not collect or hold detailed information about private practice.
	
		Table 1
		
			  Hospital doctors (percentage) Bottom of consultant scale () Top of consultant scale () 
		
		
			 199899 4.2 44,780 57,800 
			 19992000 3.5 47,345 61,605 
			 200001 3.3 48,905 63,640 
			 200102 3.9 50,810 66,120 
			 200203 3.6 52,640 68,505 
		
	
	Note:
	A DDRB recommendation in 19992000 recommended a further 50 million be allocated annually to consultants to recognise work load, intensity and contribution to the NHS.
	
		Table 2
		
			  1998 1999 2000 
		
		
			 Earnings per contract () 59,300 63,200 65,400 
			 Increase over previous year (percentage)  6.7 3.4 
			 Earnings per wte () 65,100 69,300 72,100 
			 Increase over previous year (percentage)  6.4 4.1 
		
	
	Note:
	The data in Table 2 are taken from the NHS Earnings survey (sample based).

Smallpox Vaccine

Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if the specification for the smallpox vaccine stated that the vaccine to be provided had to be the Lister strain.

John Hutton: The Lister strain was specified as the vaccine strain required and all the companies with which the Department had discussions were made fully aware of this.

Ministerial Accommodation

Nigel Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what publicly owned accommodation is made available to him in his official role; how many nights he has been in residence at each of these properties in the last 12 months; and what the total cost was of maintaining each of these properties in the last 12 months.

Hazel Blears: None.

Ashford and St. Peter's Hospital NHS Trust

David Wilshire: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make a statement on his plans to franchise the post of chief executive at the Ashford and St. Peter's Hospital NHS Trust.

Hazel Blears: My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Health announced on 8 May 2002 that the franchise for Ashford and St. Peter's Hospitals NHS trust had been awarded to Mr. Andrew Morris, with Mr. Glen Douglas the chief executive designate.

Patient Transport Facilities

Colin Breed: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what proportion of patients travelled by (a) bus, (b) train, (c) private transport and (d) other forms of transport to their (i) GP, (ii) dental and (iii) hospital appointment in (A) 1991, (B) 2000 and (C) 2001.

Hazel Blears: holding answer 15 April 2002
	This information is not held centrally.

International Recruitment

Paul Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to his answer of 8 March 2002, Official Report, column 163W, on international recruitment, which agencies have not adhered to the code of practice for (a) internationally qualified medical staff and (b) other healthcare professionals.

John Hutton: holding answer 17 April 2002
	There are no plans to publish the names of the international recruitment agencis dealing with internationally qualified medical staff and other healtcare professional agencies who have failed to adhere to the code of practice. Trusts will be advised to refer to a list, due to be published shortly, of those agencies that are compliant with the code of practice before beginning the process of setting up new recruitment contracts.

NHS Plan

Sandra Gidley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the total (a) cost and (b) distribution figure was of the NHS Plan-A Progress report 200001.

John Hutton: holding answer 18 April 2002
	The NHS PlanA Progress Report 200001 was the first report of the Modernisation Board. It is a requirement of the Board's Terms of Reference that an annual report should be produced.
	The total cost of producing and distributing this document was 82,480. 22,000 copies of the report have been distributed.

Matrons

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what duties matrons are expected to undertake.

John Hutton: holding answer 29 April 2002
	It is for employing organisations to specify the duties of matrons in job descriptions. Guidance was issued to the National Health Service in April 2001 as Health Service Circular 2001/010, 'Implementing the NHS PlanModern Matrons'.

Medical Precautions

Ian Gibson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what precautions the Government plans to take in the event of (a) plague and (b) Ebola attack.

John Hutton: holding answer 2 May 2002
	My Department issued guidance to all health authorities and regional directors of public health on the procedures to be followed in the event of a deliberate release of plague and other biological agents, on 17 October. At the same time, guidance for medical and laboratory staff was issued by the public health laboratory service (PHLS) concerning the precautions to be adopted in the event of an outbreak of plague and other biological agents. This advice is available on the PHLS website:
	http://www.phls.co.uk/advice/smallpox guidelines.pdf
	Plague can be treated with antibiotics and the Department has a substantial stockpile of appropriate antibiotics that could be deployed in the event of an outbreak of plague following a terrorist attack.
	For Ebola, which is one of the viral haemorrhagic fevers. (VHF), guidance on the management and control of VHFs has already been produced by the advisory committee on dangerous pathogens. Further guidance on the action to be taken in the event of a deliberate release of a VHF has been drawn up by the PHLS and is being revised following review by the Viral Haemorrhagic Fever Working Group of the Advisory Committee on Dangerous Pathogens. There is no treatment for Ebola virus infection and patients are normally cared for in isolation facilities.
	The Chief Medical Officer has also written to general practitioners, and participated in a symposium at the Royal College of Physicians, for the medical profession.

Correspondence

Tony Lloyd: To ask the Secretary of State for Health when he will reply to the letter of 17 January from the hon. Member for Manchester, Central in relation to Mr. B. R., reference PO002718.

John Hutton: holding answer 2 May 2002
	A reply was sent on 9 May.

Warrington PCT

Helen Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to the answer of 23 April 2002, Official Report, column 120W, how many applications were received for non-executive appointments to the board of Warrington PCT from each ward in Warrington; what percentage of applicants from each ward were interviewed; and what percentage of applicants from each ward were appointed.

Jacqui Smith: holding answer 7 May 2002
	Information on the number candidates who applied, those interviewed and those appointed from each ward has been placed in the Library.

Medicines Control Agency

Adrian Bailey: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will publish the high level targets for the Medicines Control Agency for 200203.

Hazel Blears: The high level targets for the Medicines Control Agency are included in its Annual Business Plan, copies of which have been placed in the Library.

NHS Staff

Laurence Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many staff were employed by the NHS in (a) Gloucestershire and (b) England in each of the last five years for which figures are available.

John Hutton: holding answer 8 May 2002
	The number of staff working for the national health service in England and Gloucestershire for the last five years is as follows.
	An increase of 8.2 per cent. in Gloucestershire compared with an increase of 10 per cent. in England.
	
		NHS hospital and community health services (HCHS) and practice staff: All NHS staff employed within Gloucestershire HA and England as at 30 September each year
		
			  England Gloucestershire HA  
			  Whole-time equivalents Headcount Whole-time equivalents Headcount 
		
		
			 1997 849,450 1,053,580 8,750 11,520 
			 1998 858,520 1,066,340 8,980 11,670 
			 1999 876,880 1,092,030 9,150 11,800 
			 2000 896,200 1,112,030 9,500 12,210 
			 2001 935,060 1,159,960 9,820 12,470 
		
	
	Notes:
	1. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10.
	2. All practitioners included in the totals exclude GP retainers.
	3. All practice staff included in the total includes practice nurses, direct patient care, administration and clerical and other.
	4. All practitioners and GP practice staff are not directly employed by the NHS but work to contracts for the NHS.
	Sources:
	1. Department of Health Non-Medical Workforce Census.
	2. Department of Health Medical and Dental Workforce Census.
	3. Department of Health General and Personal Medical Services Statistics.

NHS Staff

Laurence Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many staff have been dismissed in the NHS in (a) Gloucestershire and (b) England in each of the last five years for which figures are available, broken down by (i) reasons for the dismissals and (ii) categories of employees; and if he will make a statement.

John Hutton: holding answer 8 May 2002
	The information requested is not collected centrally.

NHS Staff

David Davis: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many resignations, broken down by job description, there have been from NHS employment in Hull and the East Riding since 1 January 2001.

John Hutton: The information requested is not collected centrally.